Burris admits to raising funds for Blagojevich

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 at 11:02 am

US Senator from Illinois Roland Burris has admitted that he tried to raise funds for ousted governor Rod Blagojevich before the later appointed him to the seat, vacated by President Barack Obama.

Burris has said that Blagojevich’s brother Rob had asked him on three occasions last year to raise money. The senator had solicited several friends for donations but was turned down.

He subsequently told the governor’s brother that he would be unable to make a donation as he was interested in taking up the Illinois Senate seat.

“I’d talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fund-raiser on. Nobody was — they said we are not giving money to the governor,” the Chicago Tribune quoted Burris as saying.

Burris said that in his final conversation with the governor’s brother, he told Rob Blagojevich that he did not want to raise money because he was interested in the appointment and “I do not want to have a conflict”.

The admission differs from Burris’s sworn testimony before a House committee convened to weigh the impeachment of the governor as well as two affidavits he had filed with the committee.

Illinois’ former governor Blagojevich, who was charged with trying to sell the senate seat, had announced Burris’ appointment to the same seat on December 30, weeks after he was arrested on federal corruption charges.

Republicans in Illinois have been demanding Burris’ resignation and a perjury investigation against him after an affidavit he filed on February 5 became public. The affidavit differed from the testimony Burris gave last month when he said he had very limited contact with the governor or his people before accepting the offer to take the Senate nomination.

However, in the affidavit Burris said he did not have an opportunity to provide the correct information before the committee because of the way the questions were asked.

Burris said he is open to a Senate ethics investigation into how he got the Senate seat from Blagojevich and that he has reached out to a local prosecutor, who is reviewing his testimony before Illinois lawmakers.

“I have made an effort to be as transparent as I can, and I am willing to take a further step as I have nothing to hide. I welcome the opportunity to go before any and all investigative bodies to answer any questions they have,” Burris said.

He added, “there were never any inappropriate conversations between me and anyone else. And I will answer any and all questions to get that point across to keep my faith with the citizens of Illinois”.

(With inputs from Agencies)

( This post is from an independent writer. The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the author and are not endorsed by APakistanNews.Com.)

Burris admits to raising funds for Blagojevich

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