CHICAGO - Roland Burris said he went from the political doldrums to the U.S. Senate with integrity intact - never offering campaign money to coax then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich into appointing him. | AUDIO: Listen to wiretap | Read transcript (PDF)

At least that was what he told a state legislative committee after Blagojevich named him to the seat on Capitol Hill that was vacated by President Barack Obama's election.

But newly released tape of an FBI wiretap suggest the 71-year-old junior senator from Illinois left out vital facts in sworn statements to the lawmakers, did talk about campaign money with Blagojevich's brother and even flirted with the notion of raising funds under a law partner's name to hide Burris' role.

That was a slip of the tongue, Burris said as he tried to explain the apparent discrepancies while on a two-day tour through Central Illinois. He claimed he meant to say he would urge law partner Timothy Wright to make a campaign contribution.

And he said talking about campaign funds with the then-governor's brother, Robert Blagojevich, in the Nov. 13 wiretapped conversation wasn't really serious.

"This is a way I was placating the governor," Burris said Wednesday.

Prosecutor's investigation

Should he be charged with perjury? A prosecutor in Springfield is looking into that. But his own words show that he left out key facts he should have mentioned and engaged in a good bit of old-fashioned, weasel-wording too.

"He showed that he knew what pay to play was all about, but he knew that people were watching and he chose his words very carefully," longtime Chicago political consultant Don Rose said after reading the transcript of the wiretap tape.

Burris was guaranteed to touch off a political firestorm the day he accepted appointment to President Obama's former Senate seat from a governor who was already charged with extortion and fraud and on the brink of impeachment.

Suspicious state lawmakers called Burris before the same House committee that heard evidence in the Blagojevich impeachment.

Burris told the panel in an affidavit he hadn't had any contact with the Blagojevich camp until Dec. 26 when the governor's lawyer phoned with the Senate offer. Later, he testified that there was just one exception. He said he'd mentioned his interest in the Senate to former Blagojevich chief of staff Alonzo Monk.

On Feb. 4, he submitted a revised affidavit saying he also spoke with Robert Blagojevich, who was head of the Friends of Rod Blagojevich campaign fund.

He said Robert Blagojevich asked him to raise funds but he refused, saying it wouldn't be proper to do so since he was interested in the Senate appointment.

But the tape of the FBI wiretap shows the conversation went further after Robert Blagojevich asked him for a campaign check.

"I will personally do something, OK," Burris said. "And it'll be done before the 15th of December."

Burris was bombarded with questions about that remark as he traveled in central Illinois on Thursday.

"My statement was that 'I'll send you my check by Dec. 15,"' he told reporters. "Then when I hung up the phone I said, 'I can't even do that."'

Lame explanation

Critics scoff at that as a lame explanation.

"I believe that he committed perjury before the committee and should be investigated aggressively," said state Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Western Springs.

The Sangamon County state's attorney has a preliminary investigation under way to determine if perjury charges may be warranted.

And the federal court is forwarding the tape to the Senate ethics committee which is conducting its own preliminary investigation. In theory, it could start the process of having Burris thrown out of the Senate, although that seems unlikely.

Even before the tape was released Burris was hard put to explain the many contradictions in his multiple versions of what took place. And he echoed those explanations as he met with reporters.

Why didn't he mention his talk with the governor's brother at the hearing?

"If I were asked that question at the impeachment hearing I would have dealt with those things," he said.

Perjury cases are notoriously hard to prove. And the Senate is notoriously slow in dealing with corruption charges against fellow lawmakers.

Yet it all may be well be enough to kill off any lingering hopes on Burris's part that he might get elected to the Senate seat.

"It's a very heavy rock to put on an already wobbly canoe," said Roosevelt University political scientist Paul Green.