Updated February 24, 2009
Burris Refuses Durbin's Request to Resign
FOXNews.com
Sen. Roland Burris would not talk about his hour-long meeting with Sen. Dick Durbin, but Durbin said he suggested Burris resign and told him he would have a very tough time running for election in 2010 if he chooses to do so.
Sen. Dick Durbin, after an hourlong meeting Tuesday with colleague Roland Burris, said he had asked Burris to resign his Senate seat amid growing controversy, but Burris refused.
Durbin, the No.2 Democrat in the Senate, told reporters after the meeting that he was disappointed Burris did not listen to his suggestion.
"I told him that under the circumstances, I would consider resigning if I were in his shoes. He said he would not resign," Durbin said.
Burris, who has been in office for little more than a month, darted out of the meeting and refused to discuss the details.
"I'm under orders not to speak about this," Burris said, noting his lawyers have told him to stop talking publicly about the events preceding his appointment to the seat by ousted Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
Durbin said he did not get the answers he hoped from the senator, the subject of an investigation into whether he lied to an Illinois House panel deciding whether to impeach Blagojevich. The latest controversy started when Burris amended his public statements to disclose that the former governor's brother asked him to raise money for Blagojevich last year. Burris later disclosed that he attempted to raise the money, but was unsuccessful.
"This is a critical element," Durbin told reporters Monday, saying repeatedly he was "disappointed" with Burris. "Governor Blagojevich, or former governor, has been charged with trying to sell the Senate seat, so raising money or trying to raise money for him was in fact a very important fact that should have been brought forward and was not."
Burris arrived at his Senate office Tuesday morning with little to say to reporters but facing considerable pressure from his own party leaders.
Last week while traveling in Greece, Durbin, the senior senator from Illinois, said he wanted to hear from Burris before giving an opinion on whether he should quit the post handed to him by Blagojevich, who was arrested in December on charges of pay-to-play schemes out of the governor's mansion
The Chicago Sun-Times reported Tuesday that Burris was expected to tell Durbin that he isn't going to resign despite the Illinois attorney's investigation and a probe by the Senate ethics committee, but was going to soften his message by saying he will not run for the seat in 2010.
But Durbin said after the meeting that Burris said he has not made up his mind about 2010. Durbin, though, said he told Burris "it would be extremely difficult" for him to win in a primary or a general election.
Despite the building pressure, Burris spokesman Jim O'Connor said the senator is keeping a regular schedule on Tuesday and could even make a speech on D.C. voting rights before a Senate vote on the legislation later in the day. The senator also was going to attend a joint session of Congress for a speech Tuesday night by President Obama.
FOX News' Trish Turner contributed to this report.
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