After Revelations, Calls For Burris' Resignation Mount

Major newspapers, government watchdogs and Illinois lawmakers are all calling for Sen. Roland Burris to resign after he admitted he tried to raise money for ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich -- the man who appointed him to the Senate despite being accused of seeking favors for the seat.

The latest call for Burris' resignation comes from Rep. Phil Hare, D-Ill., who is the first member of his state's U.S. congressional delegation to demand Burris step aside.

In a statement Wednesday, Hare said he is "deeply disappointed that Senator Burris hid the fact that he attempted to raise money for former Governor Blagojevich at the same time he was lobbying for an appointment to the U.S. Senate."

"It's like a recurring nightmare," Hare said. "Our state and its citizens deserve the whole truth, not bits and pieces only when it is convenient."

Burris made the admission of his fundraising efforts to reporters late Monday, saying he asked friends to give cash to Blagojevich on the request of the governor's brother, Rob, but was unsuccessful.

"So some time shortly after (President) Obama was elected, the brother called. And now in the meantime, I'd talked to some people about trying to see if we could put a fundraiser on. Nobody was -- they said we aren't giving money to the governor. And I said, 'OK, you know, I can't tell them what to do with their money,'" he told reporters at a Presidents Day Dinner in Peoria, Ill.

Over the weekend, the senator who has been in office since Jan. 15 said he had more contact with Blagojevich advisers about the Senate seat than he had described under oath to the state House panel that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment. The Democrat said in the affidavit, but not before the panel, that the governor's brother asked him for fundraising help.

The Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post also called for Burris, who filled Obama's vacated seat in the U.S. Senate, to step down.

"This latest revelation makes a mockery of his professions of no quid pro quo. It is a violation of the public trust. The people of Illinois have suffered enough. Mr. Burris should resign," the Post wrote in an editorial Wednesday.

Click here to read The Washington Post editorial.

In an editorial posted on the Chicago Tribune Web site Tuesday night, the paper said that with Burris' "third version" of his dealings with Blagojevich, "the benefit of the doubt had already been stretched thin" and that with his latest admission, "it finally snapped like a rubber band, popping him on that long Pinocchio nose of his."

Click here to read the Chicago Tribune editorial.

"There is only one honorable action for Burris: resign," the newspaper concluded. "Strip this whole wretched process out of the hands of the politicians and give it back to the people."

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., also said Wednesday that his colleague's testimony "was not complete." Durbin, who is traveling in Greece, said the Senate ethics committee is launching an investigation and that he will await the results.

Though Burris insists he never raised money for Blagojevich while the governor was considering whom to appoint to the seat Obama vacated, the revelation that he had attempted to do so is likely to increase the calls for Burris' resignation and an investigation into whether he committed perjury before the panel.

Illinois Democrats have sent documents related to Burris' testimony to a county prosecutor for review. In Washington, a good-government group recommended Burris' expulsion from the Senate if an ethics committee investigation shows he lied to Senate leaders.

Burris earlier in the week said he didn't do anything wrong and encouraged officials to look into the matter.

"I welcome the opportunity to go before any and all investigative bodies ... to answer any questions they have," he told reporters in Peoria.

Burris also said he planned to release later this week "a concise document" related to his testimony, but he would not elaborate.

Burris had indicated his interest in the Senate seat to gubernatorial aides, including Robert Blagojevich, before the November election. Lawmakers of both parties have said Burris should resign after he admitted over the weekend that he had talked to several aides of the governor before getting the Senate post. During his testimony before the panel, he said he remembered talking only to one aide about the seat and did not say he was hit up for campaign donations.

The new affidavit submitted to the impeachment panel indicated contact not only with Robert Blagojevich, but with Blagojevich's former chief of staff John Harris and two other close friends -- all of whom Burris had been specifically asked about by the committee's top Republican.

"You would think those would be the kind of people you'd remember you had a conversation with," said Rep. Gary Hannig, a Litchfield Democrat and a member of the impeachment committee.

Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat and chairwoman of the impeachment panel, said Tuesday the committee has no plans to recall Burris to answer questions about the supplements to his story.

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan called Sangamon County State's Attorney John Schmidt on Tuesday and alerted him to the package of material he was sending, but did not make any comments on the situation, Madigan spokesman Steve Brown said. Schmidt released a statement saying only the matter is under review.

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called for prosecutors to review Burris' statements for possible perjury and for an investigation into whether Burris misled U.S. Senate leaders.

"If so, the ethics committee should recommend that the Senate expel Sen. Burris for improper conduct that reflects upon the Senate," said Melanie Sloan, the group's director.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., "supports Sen. Burris' decision to cooperate" with any investigation, a spokesman said Tuesday.

Reid and his No. 2, Durbin, initially refused to seat Burris because he had been appointed by Blagojevich three weeks after the governor was arrested on federal charges that he tried to profit from the Senate appointment. They relented on the condition that Burris testify before the impeachment committee.

Though Durbin confirmed an ethics probe, Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairman of the Senate's ethics committee, declined to comment Tuesday on whether the panel would investigate Burris. A spokeswoman for Boxer would not say whether a case would be opened but said preliminary inquiries begin whenever there are "allegations of improper conduct."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.