The flap over U.S. Sen. Richard Burr ATM remarks just got another boost.

The Washington-based Politico newspaper reported this afternoon on a statement that Burr put out when Citigroup bought Wachovia reassuring North Carolinians not to worry — around the same time he told his wife to withdraw money from the bank: 

"Today's news of Citigroup's acquisition of Wachovia might be unsettling to many in North Carolina. While these are difficult times in our economy, it is important to remember that this move provides for the protection of accounts and the soundness of savings for Wachovia's customers. FDIC has said that all services for customers should continue uninterrupted." 

"Today's news once again shows that our financial markets are currently facing tremendous uncertainty, and it is an absolute necessity to move quickly to bring some stability to the crisis." 

The press release was posted to Burr's Web site at 12:46 p.m. on Sept. 29, 2008.

On Thursday, Burr spokesman David Ward said that the senator had called his wife around the last weekend in September. 

"When you think about the three weeks prior to this, you saw some of the biggest investment banks and commercial banks fail. You saw Lehman collapse, Fannie and Freddie propped up, WaMu fall, and Merrill Lynch acquired by Bank of America," he said. "The outlook was pretty grim at the time." 

U.S. Sen. Richard Burr is opposing the nomination of a new Treasury secretary.

The Winston-Salem Republican said in a statement that he has given "the benefit of the doubt" to President Barack Obama's Cabinet nominations so far and he has been pleased with many of them.

But he said he was troubled by nominee Timothy Geithner's tenure on the New York Federal Reserve, especially his support for what Burr called the "ill-conceived" proposed merger of Citigroup and Wachovia. 

"During his tenure at the New York Federal Reserve, Mr. Geithner was a leading participant in many late-night, closed-door deals made between major financial institutions and the federal government," Burr said in a statement.

In addition, Burr said he was troubled by Geithner's failure to pay self-employment taxes while working for the International Monetary Fund.

Attorney General Roy Cooper raised $2.8 million in his successful re-election campaign.

Cooper, a Democrat, reported raising $282,193 from Oct. 19 to the end of the year, according to campaign finance disclosures.

Cooper's largest contributors for the quarter included Charles Barker, chief executive of Concord-based ACN, Inc., a telecommunications company; Thomas Belk, chief executive of the Belk department store, Jim and Ann Goodnight; and Michael DeMayo, a Charlotte lawyer.

Cooper also received significant contributions from committees affiliated with Citigroup, GlaxoSmithKline and Smithfield Foods.

Cooper spent $2.5 million on his run for Attorney General. He has $367,000 left in his campaign account.