Network NewsX Profile
View More Activity
TOOLBOX
Resize Print E-mail Yahoo! BuzzReprints
COMMENT
1 Comments
Your browser's settings may be preventing you from commenting on and
viewing comments about this item. See instructions for fixing the
problem.
Discussion Policy CLOSEComments that include profanity or personal
attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed
from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain
"signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed.
Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our
posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other
policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing
commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the
content that you post.
By Robert Barnes and R. Jeffrey Smith
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Former House majority leader Tom DeLay, the Texan architect of
Republican power in Congress, was convicted Wednesday of illegally
plotting to funnel corporate contributions to home-state legislative
candidates in 2002.
A jury in Austin found DeLay guilty of money laundering and conspiracy
to commit money laundering. Punishment for the first ranges from five
years to life in prison, but the former congressman from the Houston
suburb of Sugar Land could receive probation.
DeLay will remain free until he is sentenced on Dec. 20.
"This case is a message from the people of the state of Texas that
they want - and expect - honesty and ethics in their public
officials," said Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg.
"All people have to abide by the law."
Reporters in the courtroom described DeLay as stunned by the verdict,
which came after 19 hours of deliberation.
"This is an abuse of power," the former congressman said outside the
courtroom. "It's a miscarriage of justice, and I still maintain that I
am innocent. The criminalization of politics undermines our very
system, and I am very disappointed in the outcome."
The conviction follows years of investigation of DeLay, 63, who came
to symbolize the intersection of money and politics in Washington. He
made a mission of solidifying the Republican majority in Congress, and
his ability to raise campaign cash was part of his power and eventual
downfall.
For a time, DeLay was the Republicans' chief vote counter and
patronage dispenser, and he earned his nickname, "The Hammer," for the
dictatorial style with which he commanded House Republicans - and
tormented President Bill Clinton and Democrats.
Over three weeks, prosecutors presented more than 30 witnesses and
volumes of documents todescribe a campaign-finance scheme that
benefited Texas legislative candidates but was aimed at cementing GOP
power in Congress. They said a political action committee that DeLay
started in Texas solicited $190,000 from corporate interests and sent
it to an arm of the Republican National Committee. They said that
group then distributed the money to seven legislative candidates in an
effort to skirt Texas law, which forbids corporate contributions to
political campaigns.
Prosecutors said that the money helped the GOP win control of the
Texas House and that the majority then pushed through a
DeLay-organized congressional redistricting plan that sent more
Republicans to Congress.
"There is nothing wrong with Republicans trying to dominate the
political world," prosecutor Beverly Mathews told jurors when the
trial opened. "But the means to achieve that gain must be lawful."
DeLay's attorney, noted Texas lawyer Dick DeGuerin, denied that his
client had conspired with associates Jim Ellis and John Colyandro to
subvert Texas law. He acknowledged that the same amount of money DeLay
sent to Washington came back to Texas, but he said the money from the
RNC group was from individual contributors, which is legal under state
law.
It's not the same money," DeGuerin told jurors in opening arguments.
"No money was laundered."
DeGuerin also called Wednesday's verdict "a terrible miscarriage of
justice" and vowed to appeal.
"To say I'm shocked is an understatement," he said.
With characteristic bravado, DeLay expressed confidence throughout the
trial that he would be exonerated, and he suggested that his victory
would open the door to a more active role in federal politics after
spending the past four years cooling his heels as a Republican
consultant and an informal adviser to tea party activists.
DeLay, who had an extermination business before he was elected to
Congress, was back in the national limelight in 2009 as a contestant
on the ABC hit television show "Dancing With the Stars."
He has always said that the charges against him were politically
motivated, a vendetta on the part of former Travis County district
attorney Ronnie Earle. But a statement to Earle in which DeLay said he
had known about and sanctioned the money swap was damaging.
The former congressman later said he misspoke, telling reporters that
"even if I knew about the deal, the deal is legal. So what's the
conspiracy?" Three years ago, DeLay and his attorneys briefly
considered a plea bargain because of his statement. But he decided
instead to hang tough.
Lead prosecutor Gary Cobb said Wednesday that the jury had acted
without a political agenda, and so had his office.
"We thought the citizens of Travis County would see this case for what
it was: a corrupt politician who was caught violating the laws of the
state," Cobb said.
Five years ago, DeLay's political career began to unravel with
disclosure of the details of his money-raising operation and his
extensive connections to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The
lobbyist was eventually convicted on conspiracy, mail fraud and tax
charges. Those disclosures helped undo the Republican majority in the
2006 midterm elections.
Abramoff notably paid for DeLay's airfare to London and Scotland in
2000 for a golfing trip, while DeLay's former chief of staff - another
lobbyist who was handsomely compensated by Abramoff - paid for some of
the former congressman's expenses on that trip.
In August, after a six-year investigation, the Justice Department
informed DeLay's attorneys that he would not be indicted for his long
association with Abramoff, who DeLay reiterated was still "a friend of
mine." That investigation had already produced guilty pleas to federal
charges by DeLay's former deputy chief of staff and one of his close
aides.
More:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/24/AR2010112407072_2.html
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum
* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.
No comments:
Post a Comment