Thread: Burris Pleaded for Senate Appointment on Taped Call UPDATE

Sounds like PAY TO PLAY to me!!!



Sen. Roland Burris promised to "personally do something" for Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund while pressing for the then-Illinois governor to appoint him to President Obama's former Senate seat, according to a wiretap transcript released Tuesday.


CHICAGO -- Sen. Roland Burris promised to "personally do something" for Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund while pressing for the then-Illinois governor to appoint him to President Obama's former Senate seat, according to a wiretap transcript released Tuesday.

"Tell Rod to keep me in mind for that seat, would ya?" Burris tells Robert Blagojevich, who headed his brother's campaign fund, in a Nov. 13 phone conversation secretly taped by the FBI.

The remark came after Robert Blagojevich urged Burris to "keep me in mind and you know if you guys can just write checks that'd be fine, if we can't find a way for you to tie in."

"Okay, okay, well we, we, I, I will personally do something, okay," Burris says.

Earlier in the conversation, Burris and Robert Blagojevich explored the possibility that Burris might raise campaign money on a larger scale.

"I know I could give him a check," Burris said. "Myself."

Click here for a PDF of the transcript.

Burris repeatedly said he wanted to help but added that major fundraising would have "so many negative connotations that Burris is trying to buy an appointment from the governor."

The transcript was released after U.S. District Chief Judge James F. Holderman approved making it available to the U.S. Senate ethics committee for its preliminary investigation of Burris's appointment.

The new senator has been under intense scrutiny since he was appointed by the now-ousted governor in December, and for changing his story multiple times about whether he promised anything in exchange for it. The ethics committee began a preliminary investigation into how Burris got his job, and the Sangamon County State's Attorney was asked to determine whether perjury charges were warranted.

Burris opens the wiretapped conversation by telling Robert Blagojevich: "I know you're calling telling me that you're gonna make me king of the world.

"And therefore I can go off to, you know, wherever and do all these great things," Burris adds. He says that he has "been trying to figure out what the heck, you know, I can do."

"We've had a number of conversations about, you know, anything you might be able to do," Robert Blagojevich says a moment later.

Burris says he is concerned about how fundraising on his part would be viewed if he got the Senate seat.

"And I'm trying to figure out how to deal with this and still be in the consideration for the appointment," he says.

"I hear ya," says Robert Blagojevich. "No, I hear ya."

The then-governor was arrested Dec. 9 on charges of scheming to sell or trade the Senate seat Obama was vacating and using the political muscle of the governor's office to squeeze people involved in state business for campaign contributions.

Blagojevich, ousted by lawmakers in January, and his brother have both pleaded not guilty in response to charges in the case as have four other members of the former governor's inner circle.
Burris talks about taking part in a fundraising event that the Blagojevich campaign fund already has planned and says he is "wrestling with" what to do.

"I understand your concerns, ah, Roland," Robert Blagojevich says.

And God knows number one, I, I wanna help Rod," Burris says. "Number two, I also wanna, you know hope I get a consideration to get that appointment."

Neither Robert Blagojevich's attorney, Michael Ettinger, nor Wright objected to the government's motion to give the tapes to the Senate. Wright said Tuesday that Burris never wrote any checks to the Blagojevich campaign following the conversation.

"These transcripts verify the accuracy of my previous public statements on this matter and demonstrate once and for all there was no 'pay to play' involved in my appointment to the United States Senate or perjury in my recounting of that process," Burris said in a statement.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office, Randall Samborn, had no comment.
Indicted with both Blagojeviches were former campaign fund chairman Christopher G. Kelly, former chiefs of staff John Harris and Alonzo Monk and Springfield multimillionaire William Cellini.

All have pleaded not guilty, although Harris's attorney says he is cooperating with federal prosecutors and Monk is believed to be as well.

Burris' Senate appointment followed at least two phone conversations between Burris and Robert Blagojevich.

Burris told the Illinois House impeachment committee that he had promised nothing to Blagojevich in exchange for the seat but has changed his version of exactly what was said several times and questions have been raised about what happened.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., agreed to seat Burris if he gave a full accounting of his Blagojevich contacts to the Illinois House committee that considered impeachment of the governor.

Burris gave the committee an affidavit denying any discussion with Blagojevich's aides before being offered the seat. But when he testified, Burris acknowledged talking to one of Blagojevich's friends and informal advisers about it.

Burris did not admit talking to anyone else and said he could not recall any other contacts.
Then, after he was sworn in, Burris released another affidavit acknowledging that he had talked to several Blagojevich advisers about his interest in the seat. Soon after, talking to reporters, he said he had been asked to help raise campaign money for the governor and tried to find people willing to donate but failed.

Then he stopped answering questions, letting others speak on his behalf.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05 ... latestnews



UPDate


Illinois State Legislators Call for Burris Resignation Over Wiretapped Conversations
Roland Burris' colleagues in the U.S. Senate have been noticeably silent since the release of a secretly recorded phone conversation with former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother. But back home, at least two state lawmakers are calling for Burris' swift resignation.

Two Illinois state lawmakers are calling for swift resignation by U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, whose fighting allegations he worked with former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother on a favor for the governor in exchange for an appointment to the Senate seat.

State Rep. Jim Durkin -- the ranking Republican on the impeachment panel who questioned Burris during his Jan. 8 testimony -- and Democratic Rep. Jack Franks claim Burris committed perjury and should be removed from office.

Durkin and Franks have for months pushed for two resolutions to go before the state House Rules Committee -- one reprimanding Burris for inconsistencies in his testimony and the other calling for his resignation. Their demands were given new fuel this week when a judge ordered the release of secretly recorded conversations between Burris and Robert Blagojevich. Both brothers are facing charges relating to pay-to-play schemes.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan, who controls the committee, has so far rejected their attempts.

"There's direct evidence that Burris lied before the committee," Durkin told FOXNews.com. "His testimony before my committee is completely in contradiction to the wiretap transcript that was released."

Sen. Dick Durbin said Wednesday he will not support Burris when the Senate seat is up for election in 2010.

"We stuck our neck out for him and said if you do this thing, you'll do it in a proper, professional way, then we can stand behind you being sworn into the Senate," Durbin said, according to NBCChicago.com. "And I just don't think his testimony was complete and accurate."

In a Jan. 5 sworn-affidavit filed before Burris testified before the Illinois impeachment committee, Burris wrote that "prior to the December 26, 2008, telephone call from Mr. Adams Jr., there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives regarding my appointment to the United States Senate."

But in the FBI wiretap transcript recorded Nov. 13, Burris tells Rob Blagojevich -- then chairman of the ex-governor's reelection campaign -- that he would "personally do something" to help the governor and offered to "give him a check."

"I will personally do something, okay," Burris said, while he touted his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by President Obama.

The transcript also reveals that Burris agonized over how to give money to Blagojevich without it appearing that he "bought" the seat.

"It has so many negative connotations that Burris is trying to buy an appointment...from the governor...for the Senate seat," Burris said. "I'm trying to figure out how to deal with this and still be in the consideration for the appointment."

Burris, who said he and Blagojevich would "catch hell" if it looked like he bought the seat, suggested having his law partner -- Tim Wright -- write the check.

"My law partner we were gonna try to do something at the law firm. I might be able to do this in the name of Tim Wright," he said.

He ended his phone conversation by saying, "Tell Rod to keep me in mind for that seat, would ya?"

Burris defended his innocence Wednesday, saying he was "placating" Blagojevich's brother and never intended follow through on his words.

"I was only placating -- placating the governor's brother," Burris told NBC's Chris Matthews on Wednesday.

"I did not raise a dime because I knew I couldn't raise any money. And after I hung up the telephone from the conversation, I said I couldn't even give him a check," Burris told Matthews.

While U.S. Senate Democrats have been quiet on the matter, and U.S. Senate Republicans have yet to offer any response, Illinois GOP lawmakers say Burris' "evolving" story has tarnished the U.S. Senate seat and his own credibility.

"If he had an iota of integrity he should resign, but his gargantuan ego won't allow that so the Senate should do the right thing and remove him," Franks told FOXNews.com on Thursday.

"Mr. Burris took an oath to tell the truth and he did not. What kind of message does that send for policy in the future? It's ok to lie. We're not going to reprimand you," added Durkin. "It defies logic."

Meanwhile, Illinois Republicans are hoping the newly released wiretap transcript will add fuel to their campaign efforts in 2010, when Burris' seat is up for election. A candidate has not yet emerged to execute a GOP strategy.

"Our game plan is to win that Senate seat," said one Republican operative, who described the inconsistencies in Burris' testimony as a "Democratic problem."

"There is no political future for Roland Burris. The Blagojevich Democrats control every facet of Illinois politics. They're the ones who endorsed Roland Burris and put him into this spot."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/05 ... latestnews

He really needs to go!!