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But, y'know, despite the fact that they have a copy of the illegal check, it's all a partisan attempt to bring him down. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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Well, did you really expect him to say "yeah, I did it." The whole partisan attempt to bring him down thing is pretty weak, but it doesn't surprise me. It seems pretty much standard policy when politicians are caught.
Posts: 2437 | Registered: Apr 2005
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the indictment, from Salon It's fairly clear that crimes were committed: Texas law forbids corporate donations to Texas state legislatiive candidates, and Delay's TRMPAC laundered corporate donations through the National Republican Party. How very sleazy and clumsy. The donations to Texas candidates added up to the $190,000 donated to the RNC, IIRC from months ago. Someone will be going to jail for this.
Delay's defense will probably be that he had no knowledge of the transaction, etc. He has already said he wasn't involved in TRMPAC's day-to-day operations. But he founded the PAC, so we'll see. Maybe his partners will roll over on him in a plea bargain.
Calling DA Earle a "partisan fanatic", "zealot" and "a rogue district attorney" is rich coming from "The Hammer" and "The Exterminator", two of Delay's nicknames among his House collegues. If Earle is so partisan, why have "12 of the 15 public corruption cases he has prosecuted involved Democrats", as Earle said in a statement? It's just a red herring to draw attention away from the very serious charges.
The smokescreen:
quote: ``This is just another example of Ronnie Earle misusing his office for partisan vendettas,'' said Kevin Madden, DeLay's spokesman, referring to the Democratic Travis County district attorney who is leading the investigation. ``Ronnie Earle refused to let the facts or the law get in the way of his partisan desire to indict a political foe.''
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The indictment is three pages in length. Other than a statement that "one or more" of 3 individuals, including Tom DeLay, entered into an illegal conspiracy, I can't find a single sentence tying Tom DeLay to a crime. That is, there's not a single sentence tying DeLay to the contribution. The indictment describes the alleged conduct of two other individuals, but nothing about DeLay. You would think if Ronnie Earle had even a thin reed of testimony linking DeLay to the contribution, it would have been noted in the indictment to justify the grand jury's action. Moreover, not only is there no information about DeLay committing acts in furtherance of a conspiracy, there's no information about DeLay entering into a conspiracy. I honestly believe that unless there's more, this is an egregious abuse of prosecutorial power. It's a disgrace. I understand that not everything has to be contained in an indictment, but how about something!
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Well, Jay, apparently the Grand Jury was satisfied that it met the criteria for being sent on for trial. We'll just have to wait and see if he is convicted or not.
The trial's the thing.
Posts: 22497 | Registered: Sep 2000
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Storm, it's not just you: in the big picture this little $190,000 is just a drop that spilled from the waterfall of money that influences politicians. However, from the evidence I've seen, laws were broken, knowingly and with malice aforethought. Anyone guilty should be called to task.
Jay, Delay's TRMPAC did apparently break Texas law. The main question in my mind is if Delay was involved. I also wonder if anyone at the RNC will be busted for breaking Texas law?? This will come out at trial.
But I don't think Earle overstepped his authority: he presented evidence to the grand jury, and they came back with an indictment. Delay founded TRMPAC--it's hardly a stretch to think he was involved in the money laundering. I hardly see an "egregious abuse of prosecutorial power"--that would be more like, oh, an impeachment for a BJ.
Very funny, Sopwith. I hope it's not instead "A Nightmare on Pennsylvania Av.", starring Delay as Freddie.
quote: Rep. Alcee Hastings, a Democrat from Florida who was elected to Congress after being impeached as a federal judge, said he isn't ruling out a comeback for DeLay. "All politicians have Freddy Krueger-like qualities," said Hastings, referring to the horror flick villain who keeps reappearing despite seemingly being killed off. "We can rise again."
quote:Delay's defense will probably be that he had no knowledge of the transaction, etc.
and it may work - he could get off scott free with that defense. Worked for Richard Scrushy (HealthSouth CEO who claimed he had no idea what any of th executives that worked for him was doing and the jury acquitted him)
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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BTW, in a quirk of Texas law, it's Earle's job as Travis County District Attorney to prosecute laws involving the state legislature. Because Travis County is where the state capitol is.
Seems a little strange and inefficient, not to have a state office involved in those prosecutions. But my home state of Georgia has incredibly weak ethics laws for the state legislature, so what can I say?
Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Yes, I can't believe Scrushy beat that rap! He was the mastermind of that whole accounting fraud. Posts: 6316 | Registered: Jun 2003
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Scrushy's defense, when you boiled down to it, was "Even though I'm a brilliant man who built this billion dollar empire, I'm too stupid to see what's going on under my very nose."
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Well, the same type of defense worked really well for Clinton and Gore during their illegal fundraising probes
Posts: 1918 | Registered: Mar 2005
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This story is doing wonders for my mood. Every time I walk by a TV at work with "DeLay" and some combination of "indicted", "criminal", "steps down" or "scandal" in the crawl it makes me smile. And I walk by lots of TV's.
Posts: 148 | Registered: Feb 2000
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It doesn't make me happy, it depresses me. Not because I care all that much about Delay, but because it just confirms my belief that all professional politicians are crooks and that's not something I like to be reminded of.
*sigh*
Still, it sure seems to be true.
Posts: 14428 | Registered: Aug 2001
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One puzzling aspect of Tom DeLay's indictment is that DeLay agreed to waive the statute of limitations applicable to the alleged offense. The Texas statute gave the government three years after the crime was committed to bring charges. By waiving the statute, DeLay consented to being charged outside that window of time.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Oh gee…. And this is a real surprise. Wonder what kind of flop it will be when his weak case is thrown out?
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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Hard to believe there are still people out there who think DeLay's not a lying cheat (or, probably more accurate, know he's a lying cheat, but feel he can still get off, because the scum floating through the White House can call in some favors). I guess some people only get their info from FOX. The conservatives are falling apart all over the place. When your Administration is built on a foundation of filth and greed, it's only a matter of time before it comes crashing down under its own weight.
Just sucks that the few greedy snakes are taking the rest of us with them.
Posts: 263 | Registered: Aug 1999
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Zak, I've come down hard on Jay a time or two for being over-zealous in his love of our President and his policies. I giggled more often because, frankly, many of his rants were an embarrasment to the conservative cause instead of a help.
Now you go and embarrass all of us who disagree with the administration. Ranting and name calling does not do well here at Hatrack. There are enough places on the net the enjoy those tactics.
In defence of the President, none of Senator Delays possible illegal work were done for him. They are in separate branches of the government, and have disagreed more than once. Senator Delay is the highest that this crime could possibly reach, and it hasn't reached him completely yet.
In fact, if Delay is removed from the Senate because of this, it could booster the Republican cause. He is seen by many people to be too old/school, to power-driven, to ruthless and basically too dirty. Republican power brokers may like to see him leave, to fill in with someone more controlable and less controling.
Posts: 11895 | Registered: Apr 2002
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You're right. I just get really angry when I see what they're doing. And it blows my mind when I come across people who still support them. And then I see why when I'm flipping through the channels and come across FOX (and other sources) that knowingly and willfully mislead the public.
I don't take back anything I said, but I'll be less eager to use the words "snakes" and "scum" in the future (although I'll still think it as I type).
Posts: 263 | Registered: Aug 1999
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SOunds fair, we don't ask anyone to watch what they think, just what they post here...or at least how they say it.
Jay, I tink Delay might be able to spin thins a bit, but we will see. Did you see the Hardball interview with Chris Matthews? I read the transcript, and I wasn't impressed.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
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I think that DeLay made a smart move in signing the agreement to waive the statute of limitations on this case. If he did wrong, it bolsters his case on the "nothing unethical, nothing unlawful, nothing unprecedented." It gives him the out of saying, "Would I have let them keep investigating if I knew I had broken the law? Surely I must have not known what I did was illegal."
Good ol' culpable deniability. Either that or he was sure that there were a couple of fall guys waiting in the wings if things went south on him.
Just watch, if it comes down to it, he'll say he didn't know it was breaking the law. And if you're in Congress, or have enough bucks, ignorance of the law is a perfectly valid defense.
Posts: 2848 | Registered: Feb 2003
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So don’t you think that if he did something wrong he would have taken the statue of limitations to get out of it? You know what I think? That he’s playing you all like the fiddle and will make big fools out of all those that brought this up against him and come out bigger and better then ever. Oh and by the way, that link wasn’t a Fox link. Just because the liberal news network are salivating over the chance to make a Republican look bad doesn’t mean it’s the truth.
Posts: 2845 | Registered: Oct 2003
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And just because he is a Repblican doesn't mean he gets a free pass, Jay.
Well, at least not from the rational public.
I already told you he was probably going to "spin" thins, and with dittoheads lining up left and right it will probably work, too.
Three cheers for the anti-intellectual atmosphere that surronds us now...where people on BOTH sides act like morons in pursuit of their own brand of truth, regardless of the facts.
quote:Originally posted by Belle: It doesn't make me happy, it depresses me. Not because I care all that much about Delay, but because it just confirms my belief that all professional politicians are crooks and that's not something I like to be reminded of.
*sigh*
Still, it sure seems to be true.
Isn't that painting with a rather broad brush?
Speaking as someone who usually supports the Republican party, I believe he should lose his seat in the senate, and be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
Posts: 413 | Registered: Apr 2003
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Supporting a politician merely because you support his or her party, regardless of the actual culpability of the politician in question, ultimately hurts the party by making it look like the whole thing's corrupt.
Even if DeLay evades prosecution he'll still have that Michael Jackson, we-know-he's-really-guilty smell. He's a liability to the Republican Party.
Posts: 7790 | Registered: Aug 2000
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If Earle is so partisan, why have "12 of the 15 public corruption cases he has prosecuted involved Democrats", as Earle said in a statement? It's just a red herring to draw attention away from the very serious charges. ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
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