Burris Promises "He'll Do Something"

Transcripts of a tape made from an FBI wiretap shows Sen. Roland Burris promised to "personally do something" in response to an appeal for money for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund.

The promise came in a phone conversation with Blagojevich's brother, Robert Blagojevich, who is head of the campaign fund. Burris repeatedly says how much he wants to be appointed to President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

In response to an appeal for money from the governor's brother Burris says: "I will personally do something."

The transcript was released Tuesday as part of a motion by the U.S. attorney's office. It is being sent to the U.S. Senate ethics committee, which is investigating how Burris got his seat.

Report: Burris Promised Blago a Check

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In a November conversation caught on an FBI wiretap, Roland Burris promised Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s brother that he’d write the governor a campaign check by mid-December, Burris’ lawyer said Tuesday.

That was about a month before Rod Blagojevich appointed Burris to the U.S. Senate.

But lawyer Timothy Wright told the Chicago Sun-Times Tuesday that his client never sent the check because he believed it wasn’t a good idea given Burris’ interest in the U.S. Senate seat appointment. Wright said Burris’ decision not to send the check had nothing to do with Blagojevich’s Dec. 9 arrest.

Burris made his decision before the arrest, Wright said.

“Sen. Burris, as he said, decided he couldn’t send a check because it wouldn’t look good,” Wright said.

Burris did not mention a promise of a check in a Feb. 4 sworn affidavit that Burris submitted to an Illinois House panel investigating Rod Blagojevich’s impeachment. That affidavit sought to supplement Burris’ testimony before a House panel, where Burris only mentioned having contact with Lon Monk with regard to the appointment.

But Wright said the amount of the check was to be $1,500. The conversation with Robert Blagojevich happened when Burris was interested in the U.S. Senate. Wright said Burris’ answers to the House panel have been consistent, and he has made repeated efforts to be as complete as possible to the public.

Wright scoffed at the notion that a promise of a check was part of any pay-to-play scheme.

“Fifteen hundred dollars? Come on” Wright said. “Burris had been a fund-raiser in years past. This had nothing to do with pay-to-play.”

Tuesday in court, Wright did not oppose the release of the tape to a U.S. Senate Ethics panel. Wright said he believes the tape will vindicate his client.

“It’s good to get the facts out,” Wright said. “It’s just really good to get the truth out.”

U.S. District Judge James Holderman said in court Tuesday he would unseal the tape and transcript of a November conversation between Burris and Robert Blagojevich, who chaired the ex-governor’s campaign fund.

Burris came under fire in February after the Sun-Times disclosed the Feb. 4 affidavit, which was not previously made public. The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating whether Burris misled the public in different sworn affidavits and testimony to that impeachment panel.

In a Jan. 5 affidavit Burris told the committee: “Prior to the December 26, 2008 telephone call from Mr. [Sam] 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.”

Adam is a member of Rod Blagojevich’s legal team.

Wright said that affidavit had to do solely with the actual appointment. Because Burris wasn’t even in consideration until after the ex-governor was charged, he didn’t detail conversations with Rod Blagojevich’s aides or brother, Wright said.

Then, this is what Burris said in his amended affidavit Feb. 4:

“I recall that Governor Blagojevich’s brother, Rob Blagojevich, called me three times to seek my assistance in fund-raising for Governor Blagojevich. ...

“I mentioned the Senate seat in the context of saying that I could not contribute to Governor Blagojevich because it could be viewed as an attempt to curry favor with him regarding his decision to appoint a successor to President Obama,” Burris wrote. “I did not raise or donate any funds to Governor Blagojevich after the fundraiser on June 27, 2008.”

During the Jan. 8 appearance before the impeachment committee, Burris was asked to identify all Blagojevich emissaries with whom he spoke — including Robert Blagojevich. Burris only named Lon Monk. Burris insisted during that testimony there was no quid pro quo with Blagojevich regarding the appointment.

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/dpp/news/Burris_Blago_Check

Burris taped offering a check to Blagojevich

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May 26, 2009 7:15 PM UPDATED STORY

A transcript of a secretly recorded phone call between the brother of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Roland Burris was released in federal court Tuesday, a call in which Burris, then seeking the Senate seat, was recorded offering the Blagojevich campaign a campaign check.

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

But in the same call, Burris tells Robert Blagojevich he is concerned he and Rod Blagojevich will “catch hell.”

“And if I do get appointed that means I bought it,” Burris said.

“And, and God knows number one, I, I wanna help Rod,” Burris says later in the call. “Number two, I also wanna, you know, hope I get a consideration to get that appointment.”

Burris was recorded saying the timing would be crucial to how the fundraising would be perceived.

“And however that goes, ah, it would dictate, ah, you know how the press treats it,” he said.

“Understand,” Rob Blagojevich answered.

“’Cause man, I, I will be, you know we both would be profiled,” Burris continued. “And we don’t need that.”

A federal judge on Tuesday gave prosecutors permission to turn over the recorded conversation to the Senate Ethics Committee, which has launched a review of Burris’s conduct prior to his appointment by Blagojevich.

Burris did not specifically mention offering Blagojevich a check in affidavits he filed in Springfield in connection with hearings on Blagojevich’s impeachment. On a “good will” tour around the state in February, Burris addressed a conversation he had with Blagojevich’s brother, Robert, during the fall timeframe.

“So some time shortly after Obama was elected, the brother called,” Burris said then. “And now in the meantime, I’d talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fundraiser on. Nobody was — they said we aren’t giving money to the governor. And I said, ‘OK, you know, I can’t tell them what to do with their money.’

“So when the [governor’s] brother called me back, I said, ‘Well, look Rob ... I can’t raise any money from my friends. I said, maybe my partner and I, you can talk this over and see, could we go to some other people that we might be able to talk to that would help us out if we give — because we give a fundraiser in the law office, nobody going to show up. We’ll probably have a thousand dollars for you or something to that effect.’”

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/05/prosecutors-seek-release-of-burris-tape.html

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Roland, we hardly knew ye ........

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