A transcript of a phone call between Roland Burris and Rod Blagojevich's brother a few days after Barack Obama's Senate seat became available has been released, and it's not pretty. Burris is recorded deliberating over how to help out Blago (who was responsible for appointing a new senator) financially without "catching hell" for it publicly because it would look like a quid pro quo. He ultimately decided not to hold a fund-raiser or donate to Blago, a point that he stressed in his defense this morning during a heated exchange with reporters. But it's clear that he was at least considering it during the phone call, judging from lines like, "Okay, okay, well we, we, I, I will personally do something, okay," and "I know I could give him a check" and "God knows, number one I, I wanna help Rod. Number two, I also wanna, you know, hope I get a consideration to get that appointment." Read the whole thing. Then take a long shower.

'God knows ... I wanna help Rod' [Chicago Tribune]