[Mb-civic] DeLay Departing on Own Terms - Washington Post

[William Swiggard]

DeLay Departing on Own Terms
First, Congressman Wanted To Defeat GOP Challengers

By R. Jeffrey Smith and Jonathan Weisman
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, April 5, 2006; A01

Under siege from state and federal probes into his actions and those of 
his closest aides and advisers, Rep. Tom DeLay had considered resigning 
on several occasions over the past four months. But he waited until 
after he had vanquished his challengers in the Republican primary to 
deny them the chance to become his successor, associates said.

DeLay's decision was also provoked by recent poll results that showed he 
faced a stiff challenge in November, the associates said.

They also cited what the Texas Republican has privately described at his 
frustration at no longer being a part of the House leadership, and his 
diminished satisfaction with rank-and-file congressional life. The 
lawmaker was forced to relinquish the post of majority leader after 
being indicted in Texas on a felony money-laundering charge last 
October; he had served in the job since 2002 and had been majority whip 
before then.

DeLay's decision allowed him to set the terms of his departure, avoiding 
what could have been a personally devastating loss at the polls in 
November. DeLay was determined to hang on to his seat at least through 
the primary, said Carl Forti, spokesman for the National Republican 
Congressional Committee. That was because he considered his three 
Republican challengers gadflies and traitors and he was determined to 
try to block them from succeeding him.

Several associates said DeLay was particularly influenced by poll 
results he received after his victory in the Republican primary on March 
7, which made clear that his "negatives" in the district -- a routine 
tally of voters' emotional hostility toward him -- were high. That meant 
a close race would be won only with substantial effort and cash.

An additional impetus for putting off the resignation until now was 
suggested by John Feehery, a former aide to DeLay and House Speaker J. 
Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "He needed to raise money for the defense fund. 
That was the bottom line," Feehery said. "He wanted to make sure he 
could take care of himself in the court of law." Under federal campaign 
rules, any reelection money a lawmaker raises can be used to pay legal 
fees stemming from official duties.

DeLay's decision to resign from the chamber he once ruled with a 
clenched fist gave some Republicans hope that the party can move beyond 
a burgeoning corruption scandal as the congressional election season 
heats up. That scandal so far has led to guilty pleas to corruption 
charges by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, once a close ally of DeLay's, and 
former DeLay aides Michael Scanlon and Tony C. Rudy, who worked with 
Abramoff after leaving their Capitol Hill jobs.

But Democrats vowed that they would not let their opponents slip the 
noose of what they have labeled a "culture of corruption."

"When a person steps down, it inflates the severity of the situation, 
and if they think after Tony Rudy, Jack Abramoff and the other guys the 
country will stop debate on these issues, they've got another thing 
coming," Rep. Rahm Emanuel (Ill.), chairman of the Democratic 
Congressional Campaign Committee, said yesterday. "Federal prosecutors 
don't care about Republican spin."

In a lengthy videotaped statement, DeLay formally said he will resign 
the suburban Houston seat he has held for 11 terms, taking his trademark 
jabs at "liberal Democrats" eager for an election fight and those he 
said are ready to misinterpret his every move.

"With the news of my decision, there of course will be great speculation 
among the political pundits and media about my reasons both for this 
decision and its timing. I'm quite certain most will put forth their 
opinions and conclusions devoid of and unencumbered by accuracy, facts 
and truth," he said. "I have no fear whatsoever about any investigation 
into me or my personal or professional activities."

The associates acknowledged that DeLay made his decision against the 
backdrop of a felony criminal charge in Texas that is unlikely to be 
resolved quickly, and amid growing interest by the Justice Department 
and the FBI in his family finances and the official actions he took at 
the behest of aides who recently pleaded guilty to involvement in a 
criminal conspiracy.

But DeLay -- as well as his associates -- said the decision resulted 
from his desire to avoid a defeat at the hands of voters in his district 
rather than a calculated effort to deflect any investigation.

GOP leaders were quick to praise the man who helped secure Republican 
control of the House and turn Washington into a bastion of Republican 
support. But when pushed, several Republicans conceded that DeLay bore 
some responsibility for the scandals that drove him from power -- 
scandals that reached into his House leadership offices.

"At the end of the day, the members are responsible for what happens in 
their offices and are responsible for their staff," said House Majority 
Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who now occupies the leadership suite 
where Rudy and Abramoff say they traded funds and favor for legislative 
action. "And clearly, there were several . . . former staffers for Tom 
who ran off the road, and it is sad and unfortunate."

DeLay's potential legal challenges have increased in the past three 
months, as Abramoff, Scanlon and Rudy struck deals with a federal task 
force to gain reduced prison terms in exchange for their cooperation in 
a continuing public corruption probe. DeLay alluded in a Time magazine 
interview this week to being "hit" as a result of Abramoff's guilty plea 
in January.

As a government official familiar with the investigation said, a 
noteworthy aspect of the plea deals is the "dramatic premium" the 
Justice Department evidently places on obtaining information that might 
implicate others. For DeLay, this official said, "the federal case is 
going to get worse before it gets better."

But Richard Cullen, a key member of DeLay's defense team, said the 
resignation decision was not provoked by anything federal investigators 
have recently said. Several of DeLay's associates said that yesterday's 
announcement was jarring only to those not privy to DeLay's political 
anxieties stretching back to the 2004 race, when he won by his slimmest 
margin ever. "You get concerned" when you barely win against a middling 
opponent, a top DeLay adviser said.

Starting in December, DeLay's private polling pointed out serious 
political problems. At first, it suggested a roughly even voter split 
with former congressman Nick Lampson, the Democratic nominee. But it 
also showed that nearly eight in 10 voters were already firmly decided 
on one of the two candidates -- a rarity for a House race, especially 
considering that the general election was 11 months away. That meant 
changing minds would be costly.

The March 7 primary in which DeLay defeated three little-known 
Republicans with 62 percent provided a temporary boost for his campaign. 
But a poll DeLay commissioned two weeks ago to measure his progress with 
voters since December found no shift in the overall electorate since 
January.

That survey stoked concern in the DeLay operation because he had 
experienced a relatively positive run of media coverage in the past few 
months, and some fretted that if that was his high-water mark, he would 
be hard-pressed to win in November. The tally weighed heavily on DeLay 
after it was presented to him last week.

Rep. Henry Bonilla (R-Tex.), one of DeLay's strongest allies, said that 
although the former majority leader had "a sense of euphoria" after 
winning his primary race, this elation evaporated after he realized he 
would have to raise as much as $10 million to compete in the general 
election.

DeLay discussed his decision with Cullen last Wednesday, and he started 
informing others about it on Thursday. Few lawmakers or associates tried 
to talk him out of it, one of his advisers and others said.

"I don't think there was encouragement [for him to leave], but I think 
there's a great deal of relief," Feehery said. "It was a soap opera, and 
people are tired of soap operas. They want to get to work."

With DeLay expected to be out of Congress by mid-June, the National 
Republican Congressional Committee and Texas Republican officials 
expressed confidence that Republicans could easily retain a district 
that gave President Bush 64 percent of the vote in 2004. Former GOP 
congressman Steve Stockman, who threatened to run in the general 
election as an independent, said he may run as a Republican instead, 
joining a wide field of potential DeLay successors. They include Sugar 
Land Mayor David Wallace, who is organizing a campaign; Harris County 
Judge Robert Eckels; Tom Campbell, the second-place finisher in last 
month's Texas primary; Houston City Council member Shelley Sekula-Gibbs; 
former state district judge John Devine; and state Rep. Robert Talton.

DeLay said he would move his official residence to Alexandria and vowed 
to stay involved in grass-roots conservative causes and expand a 
foster-care program he started in Texas.

Friends and associates of DeLay say they think he can make a prosperous 
future for himself as a corporate-paid legislative strategist, book 
author and speaker.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/04/AR2006040400513.html?nav=hcmodule
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