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Impeach George Bush
Delay Indicted
Source: LA Times, 2005-09-29
Candidate: Republican Party
HOUSTON -- Rep. Tom DeLay, one of the country's most powerful Republicans, was indicted Wednesday by a Texas grand jury on a charge of violating state campaign finance laws. The action forced him to step aside as House majority leader, deepening the GOP's political woes.
As DeLay proclaimed his innocence, House Republicans moved swiftly to select Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri as "temporary majority leader." Party leaders stressed that they would continue to pursue their legislative agenda aggressively.
But the indictment rocked Capitol Hill and raised questions about how effectively House Republicans would operate. DeLay has been a top fundraiser for the GOP, a strict enforcer of party discipline and an outspoken advocate for conservative causes.
House Republican rules required that DeLay give up his leadership job because of the indictment, but he retains his House seat. DeLay is the highest-ranking member of Congress to ever be indicted.
The single charge alleges that DeLay and two political associates conspired to funnel corporate money illegally to Republican candidates in Texas. It capped years of intense political animosity between DeLay and Ronnie Earle, the Democratic district attorney in Austin, who is leading what has been a lengthy investigation into DeLay and his allies.
"Let me be very, very clear," DeLay said Wednesday. "I have done nothing wrong. I have violated no law, no regulation, no rule of the House. I have done nothing unlawful, unethical or, I might add, unprecedented."
Many of his colleagues backed him up, and White House spokesmen Scott McClellan said that President Bush still considered DeLay "a good ally, a leader who we have worked closely with to get things done for the American people."
But Democrats seized on the indictment as another in a series of ethical problems and political missteps by the Republican establishment.
House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi of San Francisco called DeLay's indictment "the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people" -- a charge she and other Democrats have signaled they will stress in next year's mid-term elections.
For many Republicans, DeLay's indictment heightens anxiety over the political environment developing for the 2006 campaign.
"Anytime you have anything that even smacks of scandal, I think it hurts all of us," said. Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo.
DeLay, 58, was first elected to the House in 1984 from Sugar Land, a suburb of Houston. Once the owner of a pest control company, he emerged as a prominent lawmaker after the "Republican Revolution" in the 1994 elections gave the party control of the House for the first time in 50 years.
He earned the nickname "The Hammer" for keeping his GOP colleagues in line. He was deft at tapping into Washington lobbyists and other sources of political money to help keep Republicans in power. And he was a major force behind his party's impeachment of President Clinton.
Blunt, a close DeLay ally, had been serving as the House GOP whip, the party's number three post. Blunt will be assisted in his new job by Reps. David Dreier of California and Eric Cantor of Virginia.
DeLay's legal problems grew out of his efforts to fortify the GOP majority in the House.
His aim was to elect a Republican majority in both chambers of the Texas state legislature that would reopen a congressional redistricting plan negotiated between Democrats and Republicans after the 2000 Census.
After Republicans captured both the Texas House and Senate in 2002, the legislature redrew the district lines in a manner more favorable to Republicans. That helped the GOP gain five congressional seats from the state in 2004.
The indictment contends that DeLay conspired with two associates, John Colyandro and James Ellis, "to violate the Texas Election Code by contributing corporate money to certain candidates for the Texas legislature." Texas law bans the use of corporate funds on behalf of state political candidates.
The indictment does not give any specific details of the alleged violation. Prosecutor Earle said that "those are issues of evidence that will be presented at trial."
According to the indictment, DeLay and the other two defendants agreed in September 2002 that they or the Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee -- a DeLay fundraising operation known as TRMPAC -- would send corporate contributions to the Republican National Committee. That money was then to be distributed to state legislative candidates in Texas.
The indictment said TRMPAC accepted $190,000 in contributions from several corporations, including Sears, Roebuck and Co. and Bacardi U.S.A., Inc. The money allegedly was funneled to seven GOP candidates in Texas. All seven won their legislative races.
DeLay, who faces a maximum punishment of two years in prison and a $10,000 fine, called Earle an "unabashed partisan zealot." His lawyer said he hoped the case would go to trial quickly, perhaps by year's end.
In Austin, Earle denied he was politically motivated. "Our job is to prosecute abuses of power," he said.
Potentially most threatening for Republicans is the convergence of the DeLay indictment with other ethical controversies swirling around the party.
Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., is facing federal investigations over allegations of insider trading, which he has denied; federal investigators continue to probe Jack Abramoff, a prominent lobbyist close to DeLay and other GOP leaders. Another federal prosecutor is exploring whether anyone in the Bush administration broke federal laws by leaking to the media the name of CIA operative Valerie Plame.
The House Ethics Committee is expected to open an investigation into DeLay's ties to Abramoff. The lobbyist, who has been indicted in Florida on an unrelated matter, is under investigation for his dealings with Indian tribes and for his lavish entertainment of DeLay and other members of Congress, including stays at overseas golf resorts.
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User Originated Comments:
From: NOT BUSHWACKED
2005-09-30 20:44:10
how bad can they get....you hit the nail right
smack on the head...
they are going to keep
puting the squeeze on... with their "divide,
confuse and conquer agenda"..
the masses will
have to fall on their asses , before they open
their eyes..."most people learn by their
mistakes". and for gods sake i hope it is not to
late...
when will america wake up
from this nightmare?
we will wake up when the
cover-ups cease....
From: time for martha to scream
2005-09-30 04:24:45
if i were martha stewart, in light of the obvious
criminal insider trading of the "christian family
man" bill frist, i would be screaming to high
heaven. after all, martha did time for a less
similiar "crime". it's about time that justice
prevails.
From: how bad can they get:
2005-09-30 03:36:40
tom delay, r-texas, former terminate exterminator,
and the "good upstanding doctor", bill frist, the
so-called doctor that offered his diagnosis of
terry schaivo, via videotape, said she was fine
and in good spirits. in addition to these 2
"suspected" criminals, the list should also
include, bush, cheney, rumsfeld, wolfowitz, rove,
rice, mcclellan, and the entire cabinet. this
whole bunch makes the gambino, gotti, and the
corleone crime families look like street purse
snatchers. they have rendered america totally
bankrupt!!!
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