Burris is given a strong rebuke but no penalty by ethics panel

WASHINGTON — The Senate ethics committee on Friday issued a sternly worded rebuke to Sen. Roland Burris, D-Ill., saying he had made misleading and inaccurate statements about the circumstances surrounding his appointment by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But it made no recommendation for further punishment.

Concluding an investigation into whether Burris lied about contacts with associates of the governor, who was later impeached and forced from office, the panel issued Burris a letter of admonishment and said he had been less than candid in his statements and had an inappropriate telephone call with the governor's brother, Robert.

"While the committee did not find that the evidence before it supported any actionable violations of law, senators must meet a much higher standard of conduct," said the letter from the panel, which also found that Burris' actions and statements "reflected unfavorably on the Senate."

Burris, 72, a former Illinois attorney general who has announced he will not seek election to the seat next year, said he was gratified the investigation was over and that he looked forward to finishing his term.

Issued before the release of the ethics committee findings, a statement from the senator's office carried a headline stating that Burris had been "cleared of legal wrongdoing" by the panel. But the tone of the panel's admonishment demonstrated that his colleagues were disturbed by conduct related to his appointment in January.

"The committee found that you should have known that you were providing incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information to the public, the Senate and those conducting legitimate inquiries into your appointment to the Senate," the letter said.

Burris testified before the impeachment panel on Jan. 8 and did not disclose that he had spoken by phone with Blagojevich's brother in November and suggested he might raise money for the governor and was interested in the Senate appointment. He disclosed that call after he had been seated in the Senate, sparking the ethics investigation.

But the ethics panel noted that Burris' initial testimony omitting the talk with the governor's brother was "one of the factors the Senate leadership said they would consider in your seating, and its truthfulness was important and relevant."

"Your shifting explanations about your sworn statements appear less than candid," the ethics letter to Burris said in a section that was bold-faced and underlined for emphasis.