Burris had other undisclosed calls to Blago camp

Chicago Sun-Times:

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris had more contacts with then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s chief of staff before being appointed to his Senate seat than he disclosed in his most recent affidavit, phone records and interviews show.

One of the calls to John Harris came Nov. 13, the day Burris discussed the possibility of raising money for the governor with Blagojevich’s brother Robert, according to phone records obtained by the Sun-Times and sources. That call was likely caught on an FBI wiretap.

All told, Burris called Harris, who resigned after he was criminally charged Dec. 9, four times in the weeks following the Nov. 4 election and appears to have spoken to Harris on Nov. 26, phone records show.

In the Feb. 4 affidavit, which has set off a political wildfire because it dramatically altered earlier sworn statements, Burris acknowledged only reaching out to Harris once last October and getting a return phone call three weeks later.

Burris depicted his discussion with Harris as having included a passing reference to the Senate seat. But sources say Burris made a hard pitch to Harris — as well as other Blagojevich aides — about being named to Barack Obama’s seat.

The Burris camp declined to comment about the apparent discrepancies in his latest affidavit.

When Blagojevich appointed Burris in late December, federal authorities questioned Blagojevich aides about their interactions with Burris and whether any pay-to-play was involved. Burris is not accused of wrongdoing in that probe.

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One of the ironies of the Burris-Blagojevich mess is that if he had told the truth it is unlikely he would be getting requests for resignation. By the time he was appointed he could not have given a contribution and Blagojevich could not have accepted it without both being indicted by the US Attorney in all likelihood. That made his lack of contributions moot, until he failed to disclose that he had been solicited and tried to comply, which tends to incriminate both now.

The Sun-Times has been all over this controversy and is the go to source at this time.