Burris Claims He Made 'No Change' to His Testimony on Blagojevich

U.S. Sen. Roland Burris, under fire for amending his testimony on his appointment to the U.S. Senate, said Monday that he told the panel investigating former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich that he would file an addendum to his remarks.

"There was no change of any of our testimony. We followed up as we promised to the impeachment committee," he told reporters, in a Chicago press conference that lasted just minutes.

Burris took no questions from reporters but said all the information he supplied was voluntary and not the result of contact from federal agents investigating the former governor.

Any suggestion otherwise is "absolutely, positively not true," he said.

House Republicans say they want an independent probe into whether Burris perjured himself in front of the panel by not revealing he had conversations with five Blagojevich allies besides the former chief of staff he testified about speaking with.

Burris filed an affidavit in early February clarifying that the governor's brother, Rob Blagojevich, called him three times starting in late October to "seek my assistance in fundraising" for the governor. He said in the affidavit, and later in a written statement, that he refused to donate any money to the governor since he was interested in an appointment by him to the seat once held by President Obama.

But Burris did not mention contact with Rob Blagojevich during his Jan. 8 testimony to the Illinois House committee looking into charges against the governor, who was eventually impeached and kicked out of office.

After a heated exchange about the omission Sunday with reporters, Burris said Monday that the affidavit should come as no surprise.

He said he had notified the panel "we probably would file supplemental information in reference to our hearing because we might not have answered all the questions." News of the affidavit was not revealed until nine days after it was submitted to House Majority Leader Barbara Currie.

Burris said that after reviewing the transcript of testimony, it was determined that he did not fully describe who he had contact with regarding the vacancy.