Burris welcomes release of wiretaps to the public

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris welcomes the release of wiretap phone conversations he had with the brother of former Gov. Rod Blagojevich to show that his December Senate appointment was made with no “pay for play” politics, Burris’ attorney said Tuesday. “I welcome the court's direction to release to the Senate Ethics Committee transcripts from taped conversations between former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother and me,” Burris said in a statement. “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.”

However, on the tapes Burris is heard promising to “personally do something” for Rod Blagojevich's campaign fund while pressing for the then-Illinois governor to appoint him to President Barack Obama's former Senate seat.

“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.

Timothy Wright III, an attorney for Burris, told the Defender. “A lot of people raised money for Rod Blagojevich, but Burris was not one of them.”

On Tuesday, a federal judge unsealed a government motion requesting permission to release wiretap conversations to the committee between Burris and Robert Blagojevich.

“The released phone conversation shows that the brother called Sen. Burris and asked his help in fundraising for Gov. Blagojevich,” Wright said. “Sen. Burris told the brother that he could not help raise money because he was interested in the Senate seat.”

The then-governor was arrested Dec. 9 on corruption charges that included scheming to sell President Barack Obama's former U.S. Senate seat.

Burris has been under intense scrutiny since he was appointed by the now-ousted governor at the end of 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.

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Burris welcomes release of wiretaps to the public

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