 Also during the first session of the Tenth Congress , Rowan proposed that a congressional committee be formed to investigate accusations against General James Wilkinson that , in 1788 , he took money from the government of Spain in exchange for efforts to separate Kentucky from Virginia and unite it with Spain rather than the United States . Aaron Burr had been accused of working with Wilkinson in the so @-@ called Spanish Conspiracy , and when Burr had approached Rowan in 1806 to solicit his services in defending Burr against the charges , Rowan had declined because he believed Burr to be guilty . Rowan 's proposal to form an investigative committee against Wilkinson failed , but he succeeded in gaining approval for a committee to investigate federal judge Harry Innes ' purported role in the Conspiracy . Rowan was appointed to the committee and delivered its report April 19 , 1808 ; the report stated that the committee could find no evidence of wrongdoing by Innes . 
