POL - DeLay indicted in campaign finance probe
 

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9507677/

DeLay indicted in campaign finance probe
Charges could force House majority leader to step down

Updated: 12:39 p.m. ET Sept. 28, 2005

WASHINGTON - A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.

Earlier, lawyers for DeLay were at the criminal justice center in Austin on Wednesday, waiting to learn whether a grand jury — in the final hours of its term — would indict the Texas Republican in a campaign finance investigation.

“It’s a skunky indictment if they have one,” DeLay attorney Bill White told reporters before the indictment. “Like a dead skunk in the middle of the road. It stinks to high heaven.”

The grand jury, made its last day a cliffhanger for DeLay, and demonstrated a recent interest in conspiracy charges that could bring more indictments in the investigation of DeLay’s state political operation.

House GOP rules require any member of the elected leadership to step down temporarily if indicted, and it would be up to the rank and file to select an interim replacement. Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., could make a recommendation, whether choosing to elevate another member of the leadership or tapping an alternative to reduce the possibility of a struggle if DeLay were cleared and then sought to reclaim his post.

Staunch DeLay ally Rep. John Carter sought to rally House Republicans around DeLay at the weekly closed-door caucus meeting on Wednesday morning. Carter, a former Texas judge, urged members to stand behind their leader and was warmly received, according to an aide who was present.

DeLay associates indicted

DeLay, who represents a Houston-area district, has been under investigation by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle for possible illegal fund-raising and use of corporate funds by his Texans for a Republican Majority committee, or TRMPAC.

Texas law generally prohibits corporate money from campaign activities.

Three men -- John Colyandro, Jim Ellis and Warren Robold --with links to DeLay and the committee were indicted last year in the case and are awaiting trial. They were charged with accepting a total of $600,000 in illegal corporate contributions.

On Sept. 8, TRMPAC and lobby group Texas Association of Business were indicted on charges of illegally funneling corporate donations into the 2002 elections for Texas Legislature.

TRMPAC’s money and expertise helped Republicans win control of the Texas legislature for the first time since the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.

At DeLay’s urging, the legislature then conducted a controversial remapping of congressional districts that resulted in more Republicans from Texas being elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.

DeLay has denied any wrongdoing, saying he was not involved in TRMPAC’s day-to-day activities. His office declined to comment on a report in the Austin American-Statesman newspaper that an indictment was possible.

Political witch hunt?

DeLay has repeatedly accused Earle, a Democrat, of conducting a political witch hunt. DeLay met with Earle several weeks ago to explain his limited role in the committee.

The grand jury, whose proceedings are not open to the public, has focused in recent days on DeLay’s possible role in one particular transaction, the newspaper said.

In September 2002, Colyandro, TRMPAC’s executive director, sent a blank check to Ellis, who was DeLay’s primary fund-raiser in Washington.

According to a money-laundering indictment against the two men, Ellis is accused of having the Republican National Committee launder $190,000 of corporate donations into noncorporate money that was distributed to seven candidates for the Texas House of Representatives.

Rare rebuke from ethics committee

The 11-term congressman has served as No. 2 in the House GOP leadership for three years, credited with maintaining iron discipline within the party and keeping Republicans in control of the chamber.

He has retained the loyalty of most party members despite running into ethical problems last year. In a rare rebuke of a House leader, the House ethics committee admonished DeLay three times for pressuring a fellow congressman, involving the Federal Aviation Administration in a political dispute and discussing energy legislation with lobbyists at a golf outing.

The grand jury’s finale coincides with a wide swath of political trouble for the GOP. Ethical questions have been raised about stock sales by the Republican leader of the Senate, Bill Frist, R-Tenn.

And President Bush, an uneasy ally of DeLay, faces the lowest approval ratings of his presidency.

Chance of guilt: 100%


Chance of conviction: 0%

Whoopsie!

Earle has in his career indicted more Democrats than Republicans on corruption charges. That said, while the charges here might be correct, just as the charges against Clinton were, it seems like they stretched to get this indictement. However, this couldn't happen to a more ethically challenged politician so I'm not crying any tears to see the Velvet Hammer get his come uppance.

I wonder if Dreier will get the post. Probably more of the same though, lower taxes, higher spending, etc, etc, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dreier

Couldn't of happened to a nicer guy.

I can't wait to see how we (the Democrats) manage to screw up the 2006 elections.

Complacency.

According to this report, he is stepping down.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050928/..._indictment_dc

Stepping down from his leadership position "temporarily."

Hopefully his next leadership position is in the mail room of a state/federal detention center.

Yeh I should have been more clear...he said he was "stepping aside", whatever the hell that means.

He HAS to step down, so i dont know why hes making out like hes accomodating the situation. Maybe hes waiting till his OTHER investigation gets him indicted too?

I heard on Fox a couple times that the rule that requires leaders to step down if they are indicted, was a "GOP rule". Was that pushed thru by the GOP during the Clinton years? Or is this bullshit? The GOP tried to repeal it just for Delay back in November and got their chops busted for trying.. so wtf?

Yeh he says in the article, ""I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference." So I guess the House Republican Conference requires him to step 'aside' anyway.

The GOP instituted the rule as part of the Republican Revolution in response to Jim Wright's problems when he was Speaker of the House.

There have been others that have already been indicted as part of this mess, and, from the coverage I've seen in the local news, all signs are pointing to DeLay being directly involved in all of this. It will be interesting to see where the trial is held in Texas.

Backstory on the rule in question (any emphasis is mine):


Politics is cyclical, no?

Watching Fox report on this right now is just astounding. democrats, prosecutor, partisan, partisan, partisan, you can indict a ham sandwich, anne coulter!

no way in hell this guy is found guilty. he's a spooky dood.

jury selection for this one should be a hoot!

I bet capsicum thinks he's being framed by the satancrats.

The announcement of him stepping aside won't change anything. He will still be the majority leader, with whomever they choose just the mouthpiece for him.

.

A politician did something wrong? wow.

A Texas politician? double wow.

I am shocked. ;)

LOL

Nicely said.

I agree. Rooting for the Democrats is like rooting for a team that Mike Martz coaches.

According to David Brooks (who is a fairly reliable source), the GOP rank and file were planning on pushing for his ouster anyway because he has always skated too close to the edge anyway and they didn't want his problems dragging them down. In other words, regardless of how this turns out, he is not stepping down "temporarily", he's done with the leadership. Apparently he isn't polling well in his district anyway and this won't help any so we may well have seen the last of The Hammer.

Which is awesome, of course.

dola,

It's hilarious listening to the same conservatives who repeated every bullshit cockamamy story about Clinton claiming that DeLay is the victim of a political witch hunt and how terrible it all is. The ironing is delicious.

Classic distancing. "Who? DeLay? Never heard of the guy."

Vast Left Wing Conspiracy.

he's trying to bat for the cycle:

Grand Jury Indicts DeLay on New Charge

By APRIL CASTRO, Associated Press Writer 52 minutes ago

AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas grand jury indicted Rep.
Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering Monday, less than a week after another grand jury leveled a conspiracy charge that forced DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader.

Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling the money through a political action committee to the
Republican National Committee in Washington.

The RNC then sent back like amounts to distribute to Texas candidates in 2002, the indictment alleges.

I just love the arguements he is giving. He said what he did wasn't illegal or against any rules, and anyways, it was something everybody did. Well, Mr. Tom, speeding is something that is illegal, but not everybody that does it gets caught. Doesn't make it any less of a crime.

BTW, this is a different grand jury than the one that recommended last week's indictment.

Hehehehehe. This headline says "probe".

Hehehehehehe.

It's just a plot of the vast left wing Texas conspiracy.

Of course it's the left wingers, liberal activist judges, and liberal media that are to blame for all of this. If it weren't for him trying to replace them with conservative politicans, conservative media pundits and conservative interpretive judges, he wouldn't have gotten in all of this trouble...

:D