The latest news from the Burris circus:

- Roland Burris' counsel Timothy Wright III sent a letter to top Senate Democrats yesterday, along with the "certificate of appointment" signed by Gov. Blagojevich (but not Secretary of State Jesse White).  Wright asserted that White's signature is "unnecessary to complete the appointment."

- At the same time, Burris' legal team appealed to the Illinois Supreme Court to quickly address his motion seeking a "writ of mandumus" to force White to sign the document.  (UPDATE: Read White's op-ed on the subject and watch his MSNBC appearance yesterday.

- The Sun-Times' Lynn Sweet reported today that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spoke to Blagojevich days before his arrest.  During the conversation he argued in favor of appointing Tammy Duckworth or Lisa Madigan to the seat and against replacing Obama with Jesse Jackson Jr., Danny Davis, or Emil Jones on electability grounds. The discussion may very well have been taped by federal investigators.

- According to ABC 7, Burris and Sen. Dick Durbin spoke by phone yesterday.  The chat was described as "friendly," but no further details were given.  The network has also reported that a meeting is scheduled between Burris and Harry Reid for Wednesday, a day after the swearing-in. (UPDATE: Lynn Sweet reports in a separate post that Durbin earlier advised Burris not to accept the appointment.  Burris told Sweet that he ignored Durbin's advice in order "to take this issue off the plate of the people of Illinois.")

- A spokesman for Speaker Michael Madigan confirmed yesterday that Burris will be asked to testify before the House impeachment committee.

- Senate Republicans may use the same stalling tactics being proposed by the Democrats with regards to Burris to keep Al Franken from being immediately seated as the next Senator from Minnesota.  (H/T PI reader EBG)

- Strange coincidence: the Senate Sergeant at Arms, Terrance Gainer, was formerly the head of the Illinois State Police. Gainer told the AP that Burris is a "good man" who "plays by the rules," and as such he doesn't expect trouble on Capitol Hill this coming Tuesday.

- Alex duBuclet, a candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat currently held by Bobby Rush, released a statement this week condemning the incumbent's vocal support of the Burris appointment.  "Shame on Bobby Rush for being part of this travesty," he wrote.

- The "Seat Roland Burris" Facebook group had 32 members at the time this post went live.