Burris: No Blago regrets, blasts media

CHICAGO, June 7 (UPI) -- Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., says he has no regrets about his controversial appointment to the U.S. Senate and says the media should perform a self-examination.

In an interview published in Sunday's Chicago Tribune, Burris said there is "nothing to regret" about his appointment by indicted former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to the seat left vacant by the election of President Barack Obama.

Burris told the newspaper he has never lied while giving a set of shifting accounts of his dealings with Blagojevich, who is accused of trying to "sell" the Senate seat in return for campaign contributions and other favors, and suggested the media was persecuting him.

"There's nothing to regret," Burris told the Tribune. "I've been truthful in everything I've said. And I've got to say this, that it's your colleagues, OK? In the media, they have to look at what they've written."

Wire-tapped conversations released late last month between Burris and Blagojevich's chief fundraiser, brother Rob Blagojevich, indicated Burris expressed interest in the Senate seat and sought ways to join fundraising events for the governor held by others. The Tribune said Burris claims he made the statements merely to "placate" Rob Blagojevich.