Sen. Roland Burris Says He Was Only 'Placating' Blagojevich

Sen. Roland Burris - mired in a pay-to-play investigation involving impeached former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich - says not only did he never intend to pay Blago a cent to get Barack Obama's U.S. Senate seat, but he was essentially full of BS when he told the governor's brother he would donate some money to his campaign.

"I was only placating the governor's brother," the Illinois Democrat told MSNBC's Chris Matthews tonight, as Matthews went over and over certain portions of the just-released transcripts of Burris' phone conversations with Rob Blagojevich, the governor's brother, which seem to portray Burris as being amendable to donating money to Blago's campaign so long as he could get Obama's seat.

Matthews seemed peeved that Burris has in the past, told him that Blagojevich never asked him for anything.

"We had no types of improprieties, no type of inconsistencies," Burris argued.

Yes, Rob Blago asked him to raise money, and yes, Burris told him he wanted to be sent to the Senate, but Burris maintains that he never had any intention of giving money for any sort of pay-to-play scheme.

"I wasn't even on the governor's radar - the governor wasn't even thinking of me," he said. "If the governor hadn't been arrested, I never would have been appointed to that seat."

Matthews insisted that the transcripts paint a picture of a "conspiracy" - that Burris was going to funnel money to Blago through his law firm partner. "Isn't that covering up your involvement in buying a Senate seat?" he asked, hammering Burris, but still, the senator didn't give in.

"I had no intention of raising any money for the governor - I told my partners that," Burris maintained. "I did not intend to hold a fundraiser for the governor ... it was my intention not to alienate the governor's brother."

Matthews: "That's your legal and political defense? That you weren't telling the truth?"

Burris: "After that telephone conversation, Chris, nothing took place. ...We came to the conclusion I couldn't raise any money' for Blago, nor could anyone in his firm. "I didn't even make a move to raise one dime for the governor's brother."

Matthews: "You're lying in the quid pro quo so clearly ... that is pay-to-play, isn't it?"

Burris: "There was no deal - that was what I was seeking to avoid. I knew I couldn't do anything because of the potential of a quid pro quo."

Is he lying or just naively disillusioned? At the very least, the latter.

Chicago Sun-Times reporter and PoliticsDaily's own Lynn Sweet says she spoke to Burris just last week, and he apparently still thinks he's going to run for reelection, or, rather, election. He was making the rounds to Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid's office, among others talking about his re-election campaign. Even if he hadn't stepped in it royally with this latest Blago bit, Burris has more than his fair share of challenges if he does try to get elected - not least of which is having no cash.

You can listen to audio of Burris' Nov. 18, 2008, conversation with Rob Blagojevich here. Transcript can be found here.

Here's the "Hardball" video with tonight's Matthews-Burris exchange: