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Impeach George Bush
Delay fights back by Attacking Prosecutor
Instead of defending himself, the republican goes on the offensive. A sharp move in politics, maybe not such a good legal move.
Source: AP, 2005-10-16
Candidate: Republican Party
Stung by his recent indictment in Texas, Tom Delay is trying to turn his legal woes into a financial boon for his re-election. The former House majority leader is using his congressional campaign to distribute to voters derogatory information about the prosecutor who brought the charges against him and to solicit donations for his re-election.
"Help Tom fight back," reads one of the solicitations on the http://www.TomDelay.com Web site that voters are being directed to as part of an Internet-based campaign funded by DeLay's re-election committee.
Contributors, voters and others who sign up can get regular e-mails and an electronic "toolkit" from DeLay's campaign with the latest disparaging information his legal team has dug up on Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle.
"Join thousands of conservatives across the country in the fight against liberal DA Ronnie Earle," recipients are told.
Recipients are offered a full dossier about the Democratic prosecutor and his "baseless political indictment" with subjects like:
_"Ronnie Earle's previous misuse of his office," which highlights failures in Earle's career such as his unsuccessful case against Republican Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (news, bio, voting record) in the 1990s.
_"Earle asks for a Do-Over," which focuses on the prosecutor's decision to seek a re-indictment of DeLay on different charges after DeLay's lawyers raised technical questions about the first indictment.
_"Coming Soon: The Ronnie Earle Movie," which highlights reports that Earle allowed a film crew to follow him during parts of the DeLay investigation.
Earle apparently hasn't been solicited by the campaign. "I haven't seen it and have no comment," the prosecutor said when reached Friday. Earle, however, has denied politics have anything to do with the prosecution.
Legal experts said DeLay's use of congressional campaign donations to attack Earle likely was permitted under campaign law, though it could lead to legal questions about whether he is trying to influence potential jurors for his trial.
"He clearly is aiming at the jury pool and aiming at voters, hoping to generate as much sympathy as he can," said Larry Noble, the government's former chief election enforcement lawyer. "And it shows DeLay never misses a beat when it comes to fundraising — no matter how dark things get."
Bruce Yannett, a former Iran-Contra prosecutor, said DeLay's campaign effort might raise questions of trying to taint the potential jury pool but the legal standard for making such a case is hard to prove.
Nonetheless, Yannett said he could not imagine President Reagan overtly using his campaign to attack prosecutors during the 1980s investigation of the Iran-Contra affair. "I would not recommend his campaign do it. It does seem a little unusual," Yannett said.
DeLay has been indicted along with several colleagues on charges that he conspired to launder illegal corporate contributions to Texas state candidates. He denies the charges.
Don McGahn, a lawyer for DeLay's campaign, said the use of the campaign for the anti-Earle effort is "perfectly legal" and has nothing to do with trying to sway jurors.
The indictment is "big news in Texas so it is obviously something the campaign should address for the voters whom it affects," McGahn said. "The intent is just for people to understand the truth. There is no other purpose here."
The truth, however, is decidedly DeLay's version on the Web site.
"Ronnie Earle is wrong on the facts. Ronnie Earle is wrong on the law," the Web site states as it analyzes the twists and turns in the case in the most favorable light to the congressman.
The Web site also gives readers tools to send a letter to newspaper editors in support of DeLay, to contact a radio talk show or to e-mail DeLay's carefully crafted "facts" to friends.
And, of course, the Web site wouldn't be complete without one of the oldest pitches in politics. "Make a contribution," it pleads.
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User Originated Comments:
From: Linda
2005-10-25 13:52:07
speaking of criminalizing politics...apparently it
is mr delay who has politicized
criminality.
demanding a different judge,
indeed, because the one before whom he plans to
plead is a democrat???
imagine what that
will do to the future of our justice
system...
women demanding woman
judges...
whites demanding white
judges...
blacks demanding black
judges...
children demanding child
judges...
like the rest of us, delay
should be stuck with the luck of the draw.
it
is typical of the republican mind that he would
not see past his current circumstances and realize
he may be the instrument to destroy what's left of
our society.
you're right. it is a
culture war. the american culture vs a tyrannical
right wing.
From: Bush is great
2005-10-24 22:39:11
what's so great about you?
what we have
here is a war between cultures and it's worth
everything to win. how would you like to live in
a muslim country where women couldn't speak in
public and where the princes had the sole
authority from -allah-?
we have a great
country. if you hate it so much, you should just
leave.
From: Bush is Great
2005-10-23 23:41:48
it was necessary at the time to back iran versus
iraq as iran was an open terrorist state at the
time already at war with the united states.
saddam was a necessary evil - we had to support
him in order to accomplish the greater good of
combatting iran. it was our moral duty, as a
result, to go and clean up after the mess we made
there by removing him.
i don't see why
liberals have such a hard time understanding
international politics.
From: from: we, the people
2005-10-22 01:05:12
to: bush is great. well, tell us, great at what???
i'll admit he is an accomplished liar, a total
business failure, a spoiled incompentent little
child, the worst "appointed" president in all of
american history, a useless drunk, etc., etc., and
etc. and to publicly write that bush is great,
what is it that you are smoking, drinking,
injecting, or inhaling that you can become so
totally deceived with this little "empty suit".
he, rather than saddam should be on trial for war
crimes, as he, (dubya) is responsible for more
deaths in this iraq debacle than saddam. and,
saddam was encouraged by our previous (reagan)
administration to wage war on iran, and was
supplied by that very administration with
materials of war to do so. so, examine all of the
facts and get your head on straight before you
proclaim such a total ridiculous comment such as
"bush is great". actually, he is a blithering
idiot!!!!
From: Bush is Great
2005-10-20 02:07:52
delay is a patriot. this politicizing of the
district attorney's office is shameful. they need
to just fire that prosecutor.
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