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Illinois senator admits trying to raise funds for Blagojevich
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.
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.
