Prosecutor: Sen. Burris won’t face perjury charge

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — U.S. Sen. Roland Burris will not be charged with perjury for statements he made before an Illinois House impeachment committee because there isn’t enough evidence to support the charge, the state prosecutor investigating the case said Friday.

Sangamon County State’s Attorney John Schmidt said that while some of Burris’ statements about the circumstances surrounding his controversial appointment to the Senate by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich were vague, they wouldn’t support a perjury charge.

“This matter has now been fully investigated; I cooperated at every phase of the process, and as I have said from the beginning, I have never engaged in any pay-to-play, never perjured myself, and came to this seat in an honest and legal way,” Burris said in a statement. “Today’s announcement confirms all that.”

Burris spokesman Jim O’Connor said the senator would not be available for comment Friday, and was en route from Washington to Chicago. Blagojevich’s publicist did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

The Illinois Democrat still faces in investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee, which is looking into the circumstances of Burris’ appointment to the Senate. That committee, however, hasn’t voted to oust a sitting member since the Civil War era.

The ethics committee, which is reviewing the circumstances of Burris’ appointment, can recommending punishment for wrongdoing among Senate members by censuring them — a formal reprimand — or even ousting them. But the Senate hasn’t voted to dismiss a sitting member since the Civil War era.

Burris, 71, was appointed to President Barack Obama’s vacant Senate seat by Blagojevich after the FBI arrested Blagojevich on corruption charges. Those charges include allegations that the former governor tried to sell the seat for political donations. Blagojevich, who was impeached and removed from office, has denied wrongdoing.

The new senator has been under intense scrutiny because of the circumstances surrounding his appointment and for changing his story multiple times about whether he promised anything for Blagojevich in exchange for the seat. The ethics committee began a preliminary investigation into how Burris got his job, and the Sangamon County state’s attorney was asked to determine whether perjury charges were warranted.

Burris has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and asserted his appointment to the Senate was clean.

According to a wiretap transcript of conversations between Burris and Robert Blagojevich, the former governor’s brother, Burris promised to “personally do something” for the then-governor’s campaign fund while pressing Blagojevich to appoint him to the seat.

Earlier in the conversation, Burris and Robert Blagojevich explored the possibility that Burris might raise campaign money on a larger scale.

“I know I could give him a check,” Burris said. “Myself.”

Burris attorney Timothy Wright has said Burris never wrote any checks to the Blagojevich campaign following the conversation. Burris, a former Illinois attorney general, had donated to Blagojevich’s campaigns previously.

(This version CORRECTS that the wiretapped conversation in which Burris says he’ll “personally do something” was with the former governor’s brother, Robert Blagojevich, not the governor himself.)