Burris is no longer taking your questions

Facing calls for his resignation and two separate probes into how he landed his Senate appointment, Roland Burris is now on lockdown.

The junior Senate Democrat from Illinois canceled a public event today in Rockford and said he will keep his mouth shut in front of reporters as a Senate ethics committee and a downstate county prosecutor launch inquiries into his dealings with Rod Blagojevich's fundraisers and advisers.

"What I will no longer do after today, now that there is an ongoing investigation, is engage the media and have facts drip out in selective sound bites," Burris said twice during a speech Wednesday to a crowd of political and business insiders at a posh Italian banquet hall in downtown Chicago.

Burris' new silence campaign comes as U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, the No. 2 man in the Senate, said his colleague's latest account of trying to raise money for Blagojevich while lobbying for the Senate appointment raises "serious questions which need to be looked at very carefully." Blagojevich was arrested, in part, because prosecutors alleged he tried to sell the Senate appointment for campaign cash or a post-government lucrative job. Federal prosecutors had his phone tapped and those of several of his close confidants.

As calls for Burris' resignation continue, the only serious threat to his seat would appear to come from a Senate ethics commission investigation. A preliminary inquiry has begun.

Durbin said he is withholding judgment as the ethics inquiry and a separate perjury probe by a downstate prosecutor take their course.

"This is the appropriate course of action and I await the outcome of those investigations," Durbin said in a statement. "The people of Illinois deserve nothing less."

But Durbin earlier was quoted on the Chicago Tribune's Web site as saying the future of Burris' Senate seat is in question.

Durbin and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid never wanted to seat Burris after Blagojevich defiantly made the appointment as impeachment proceedings were under way after Blagojevich's Dec. 9 arrest.

Also Wednesday, President Barack Obama's spokesman steeped into the scandal and said Illinois residents "deserve to know" what happened between Burris and Blagojevich before the appointment. Spokesman Robert Gibbs said he expected the two probes would get to the bottom of it. Gibbs pointed out that Burris was seated based on what he told the public and lawmakers before his story recently changed.

Meanwhile, top-level Republicans and several Democrats say Burris can no longer be trusted and should step down for the good of the state.

"We are still a national laughingstock," said GOP national committeeman Pat Brady of St. Charles. "Absolutely he should resign."

Along with the ethics inquiry, the Sangamon County state's attorney is investigating whether Burris perjured himself before an Illinois House panel when he said under oath that he didn't recall whom he talked to about wanting the appointment.

An affidavit from Burris released over the weekend revealed the Chicago Democrat actually talked to three Blagojevich staffers, the governor's fundraiser and a union official close to the governor. Additionally, Burris acknowledged Monday he tried to raise cash for Blagojevich at the same time, but couldn't find donors and later determined that wouldn't be ethical.

Gov. Pat Quinn, House Speaker Michael Madigan and Senate President John Cullerton, all Chicago Democrats, pushed for the perjury probe.

But Burris still has his backers.

"Roland Burris told us what went on and there wasn't anything illegal," said Cook County Board President Todd Stroger.

Burris is hoping more of them come forward. He pleaded with the audience in his City Club of Chicago speech to believe that he did nothing wrong.

"I ask you, today, to stop the rush to judgment," Burris said. "I have done nothing wrong and I have absolutely nothing to hide."

As for the investigations, Burris said, "I welcome the scrutiny."

Then during a questioning portion of his presentation, Burris was asked if it was wrong of him to try to raise money for the governor while he was seeking the Senate seat, as he admitted on Monday.

Burris said he "was never considered for the Senate." When members of the audience loudly accused him of dodging the question, Burris said he was no longer answering such questions because of investigations. That ended the event.

Meanwhile, the Democrats' handling of Burris' evolving statements have stirred partisan rancor at the state Capitol with Republicans accusing Democrats of withholding evidence crucial to the impeachment of Blagojevich and the appointment of Burris.

House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego questioned whether the Democrats kept Burris' latest statement under wraps as part of a conspiracy to ensure President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan would clear the U.S. Senate.

But one Chicago lawmaker - state Rep. Monique Davis - pointed out the Illinois House impeachment panel's job was investigating Blagojevich, not vetting Burris for the U.S. Senate. Nothing Burris might have said would have changed the outcome for Blagojevich, she said.

Blagojevich was impeached twice by the House and then convicted and removed from office by a unanimous vote in the Illinois Senate.

Cross, however, said U.S. Senate leaders deferred to Springfield regarding Burris, and state lawmakers had an obligation to look deeper and make the public aware of any potential conflicts. That didn't happen, Cross said, when the Democrats running the committee failed to notify members that Burris was changing his statements to show that he did in fact have conversations with several Blagojevich aides about becoming U.S. senator.

Burris' affidavit was dated Feb. 5, but it didn't come out in the press until last weekend. It was not handed over to Republicans until earlier this week.

State Rep. Barbara Flynn Currie, a Chicago Democrat who chaired the impeachment panel, denied any conspiracy, saying it was a case of mistakenly assuming Burris' mailings to the committee were "routine" and the delay getting GOP members in the loop was due to a "communications mishap."

"Any suggestion that I engaged in a deliberate cover-up, that I purposely delayed distribution of the information is totally false," Curry said. "Any suggestion that I should do a better job of reading my mail in a timely fashion is suggestion I enthusiastically - and more than a little ruefully - embrace."

• Daily Herald news services and staff writer Rob Olmstead contributed.