[Mb-civic] DeLay Is Indicted in Texas Campaign Finance Probe

[Jef Bek]

FINALLY! BRING IT ON!!
.   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

NEW YORK TIMES

September 28, 2005

DeLay Is Indicted in Texas Campaign Finance Probe

 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 1:11 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay
and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme,
forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post.

DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal
conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive
director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim
Ellis, who heads DeLay's national political committee.

''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 and the actions of the Travis County district attorney today,''
DeLay said.

GOP congressional officials said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will
recommend that Rep. David Dreier of California step into those duties. Some
of the duties may go to the GOP whip, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. The
Republican rank and file may meet as early as Wednesday night to act on
Hastert's recommendation.

The charge carries a potential two-year sentence, which forces DeLay to step
down under House Republican rules.

''The defendants entered into an agreement with each other or with TRMPAC
(Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee) to make a
political contribution in violation of the Texas election code,'' says the
four-page indictment. ''The contribution was made directly to the Republican
National Committee within 60 days of a general election.''

The indictment against the second-ranking, and most assertive Republican
leader came on the final day of the grand jury's term. It followed earlier
indictments of a state political action committee founded by DeLay and three
of his political associates.

Kevin Madden, DeLay's spokesman, dismissed the charge as politically
motivated.

''This indictment is nothing more than prosecutorial retribution by a
partisan Democrat,'' Madden said, citing prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a
Democrat.

''We regret the people of Texas will once again have their taxpayer dollars
wasted on Ronnie Earle's pursuit of headlines and political paybacks.''

The grand jury action is expected to have immediate consequences in the
House, where DeLay is largely responsible for winning passage of the
Republican legislative program. House Republican Party rules require leaders
who are indicted to temporarily step aside from their leadership posts.

However, DeLay retains his seat representing Texas' 22nd congressional
district, suburbs southwest of Houston.

DeLay has denied committing any crime and accused the Democratic district
attorney leading the investigation, Ronnie Earle, of pursuing the case for
political motives.

Democrats have kept up a crescendo of criticism of DeLay's ethics, citing
three times last year that the House ethics committee admonished DeLay for
his conduct.

Earlier, DeLay attorney Bill White told reporters, ''It's a skunky
indictment if they have one.''

As a sign of loyalty to DeLay after the grand jury returned indictments
against three of his associates, House Republicans last November repealed a
rule requiring any of their leaders to step aside if indicted. The rule was
reinstituted in January after lawmakers returned to Washington from the
holidays fearing the repeal might create a backlash from voters.

DeLay, 58, also is the center of an ethics swirl in Washington. The 11-term
congressman was admonished last year by the House ethics committee on three
separate issues and is the center of a political storm this year over
lobbyists paying his and other lawmakers' tabs for expensive travel abroad.

Wednesday's indictment stems from a plan DeLay helped set in motion in 2001
to help Republicans win control of the Texas House in the 2002 elections for
the first time since Reconstruction.

A state political action committee he created, Texans for a Republican
Majority, was indicted earlier this month on charges of accepting corporate
contributions for use in state legislative races. Texas law prohibits
corporate money from being used to advocate the election or defeat of
candidates; it is allowed only for administrative expenses.

With GOP control of the Texas legislature, DeLay then engineered a
redistricting plan that enabled the GOP take six Texas seats in the U.S.
House away from Democrats -- including one lawmaker switching parties -- in
2004 and build its majority in Congress.