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On Wed, Nov 24, 2010 at 7:33 PM, Tommy News <tommysnews@gmail.com> wrote:
Ex-House Leader DeLay Found Guilty in Texas Case
By JAMES C. McKINLEY Jr.
Published: November 24, 2010
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Close LinkedinDiggMixxMySpaceYahoo! BuzzPermalink AUSTIN – Tom DeLay,
one of the most powerful and divisive Republican lawmakers to ever
come out of Texas, was convicted Monday of money laundering charges in
a state trial, five years after his indictment here forced him to
resign as majority leader in the House of Representatives.
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Ben Sklar/Getty Images
Tom DeLay, left, at his corruption trial in October in Austin.
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After 19 hours of deliberation, a jury of six men and six women
decided that Mr. Delay was guilty of one charge of money laundering
and one charge of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
As the verdict was read, Mr. DeLay, who is 63, sat stone-faced at the
defense table. Then he rose, turned, smiled and hugged his wife and
then his weeping daughter in the first row of spectators. He faces
between five and 99 years in prison, though the judge may choose
probation.
A few minutes later, Mr. Delay said outside the door of the courtroom
that he would appeal the decision. He called the prosecution a
political vendetta by Democrats in the local district attorney's
office, and revenge for his role in orchestrating the 2003 redrawing
of congressional districts to elect more Republicans.
"This is an abuse of power," he said. "It's a miscarriage of justice.
I still maintain my innocence. The criminalization of politics
undermines our very system."
The verdict ends the latest chapter in a long legal battle that forced
Mr. DeLay to step down. The trial also opened a window on the world of
campaign financing in Washington, as jurors heard testimony about
large contributions flowing to Mr. DeLay from corporations seeking to
influence him, and about junkets to posh resorts where the congressman
would rub shoulders with lobbyists in return for donations.
Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat and Travis County District Attorney,
said the decision to pursue charges had nothing to do with partisans
politics.
"This was about holding public officials accountable, that no one is
above the law," she said.
During the three-week trial, the prosecution presented more than 30
witnesses in an effort to prove Mr. DeLay conspired with two
associates in 2002 to circumvent a state law against corporate
contributions to political campaigns. Since 1903, Texas law has
prohibited corporations from giving money to candidates directly or
indirectly.
Mr. Delay was initially charged with breaking campaign finance law.
But prosecutors later switched strategies because it was impossible
under the law at the time to accuse someone of conspiring to break
campaign finance rules, prosecutors said.
Instead, prosecutors used a novel legal theory never before tried in
Texas: they argued Mr. DeLay and two of political operatives – John
Colyandro and Jim Ellis -- had violated the criminal money-laundering
law.
They were charged with conspiring to funnel $190,000 in corporate
donations to state candidates through the Republican National
Committee.
The main facts of the case were never in dispute.
In mid-September 2002, as the election heated up, Mr. DeLay's state
political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, gave a
check for $190,000 to the Republican National Committee. The money had
been donated earlier in the year by various corporate lobbyists
seeking to influence Mr. DeLay, several witnesses said.
On September 13, the check was delivered to the R.N.C. by Mr. Ellis,
who was Mr. Delay's top political operative in Washington and headed
his Federal political action committee.
At the same meeting, Mr. Ellis also gave the Republican director of
political operations, Terry Nelson, a list of state candidates and an
amount to be sent to each. Mr. Nelson testified that Mr. Ellis had
told him the request for the swap had come from Mr. DeLay.
In early October, donations were sent from a separate account filled
with individual donations to seven G.O.P. candidates in Texas. Six of
them won. Republicans seized control of the legislature for the first
time in modern history and in 2003 pushed through a controversial
redistricting plan – orchestrated by Mr. DeLay – that sent more Texas
Republicans to Congress in 2004 and helped him consolidate his power.
Jurors had to wrestle with the questions of what Mr. DeLay knew about
the transaction, when he found out and whether he participated in the
decision to swap the money.
Another central issue facing the panel was whether the corporate
contributions could be considered illicit. To be guilty of
money-laundering, the prosecution had to show the money had been
obtained through an illegal activity before it was laundered.
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The jury consisted of a Republican, six Democrats, two independent
conservatives and three independent liberals.
Prosecutors presented a mountain of circumstantial evidence – emails,
telephone records, calendars, brochures and other documents – trying
to persuade jurors that Mr. DeLay played a leading role in the plan
and intended to break the Texas election law from the moment his
political operatives solicited the donations.
The prosecutor, Gary Cobb, said the prosecution had a tough job in
demonstrating Mr. DeLay was responsible for the actions of his
political associates, Mr. Ellis and Mr. Colyandro, who did not testify
and still await trial on lesser charges.
None of the other witnesses testified directly about Mr. DeLay's
control over the decision, and the prosecution instead relied on an
interviews Mr. DeLay had given to prosecutors and journalists.
"It was almost entirely circumstantial and there were a lot of people
with motives not to have Tom Delay convicted," Mr. Cobb said.
During the last day of deliberations, the jurors asked for transcripts
of Mr. DeLay's interview with prosecutors in 2005, in which he said he
knew about the swap in advance. "Jim Ellis told me he was going to do
it before he did it," Mr. DeLay said in the interview.
But the lead defense attorney, Dick DeGuerin, maintained the money
swap was legal because the Republican National Committee kept a
firewall between accounts holding corporate and individual
contributions.
"It's not the same money," was his mantra during the trial.
He also presented evidence to distance Mr. DeLay from the actions of
his political operatives, arguing that while Mr. Ellis told Mr. DeLay
about the transaction, Mr. DeLay never gave his approval.
Judge Pat Priest has wide discretion in sentencing the former majority
leader, who was known as "The Hammer" for his no-holds-barred style
during 20 years in the House of Representatives.
Mr. Delay could be sentenced from 2 years to 20 years in prison for
the conspiracy count, and from 5 years to 99 years, or life in prison,
for the money-laundering count.
Mr. DeGuerin said Mr. DeLay would try to convince an appeals court the
money-laundering statute should never had been applied to the money
swap — because the original donations were legal and also because the
donations to the state candidates came out of a different account than
the one in which the corporate donations were deposited.
"It will never stand," Mr. DeGuerin said.
More:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/25/us/politics/25delay.html?pagewanted=2&partner=rss&emc=rss
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
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