Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) heatedly denied that he intended to raise any funds for Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) in exchange for his appointment to President Obama’s former Senate seat.
“I did not pay to play, and I’m sick of answering your questions, and you’re not accepting my answers,” Burris told John Williams of Chicago’s WGN Radio on Wednesday. “You keep raising these implications.”
Burris said that he concluded early in the process of his seeking the Senate seat that he was not in a position to raise money for the governor in exchange for the appointment. Blagojevich was impeached and removed from office after having been captured on federal wiretaps discussing quid-pro-quos for the seat.
New wiretaps between Blagojevich’s brother and Burris were released Tuesday.
“The bottom line is that I did not give any money, nor did I raise any money because I came to the conclusion that it would not be right or ethical for me to do that,” Burris said.
“I did not commit any perjury — I’ve been very consistent about that,” he said. “This should be the end of the story.”
Burris has been besieged even before joining the Senate, with his reelection aspirations in doubt given his short but scandal-plagued tenure.