Tom Delay just indicted for money laundering
 

A Texas grand jury just indicted him on money laundering charges.Between this ,Frist, and Bush's recent plunge. If the Democrats can't make hay now I think they are deliberately dropping the ball.

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I'm ecstatic and I don't care who knows it. Take that, bitches!

I'll get the wantons if you get the cream cheese! :lol:

:laugh:

I'm so happy that I was considering getting some wine to celebrate, but I want to be sober enough to enjoy this!

Ooh, so you occassionally drink wine? A couple of glasses is good for you!

Also, am I losing it or did this happen last week?

Nope Suze, this is a different charge. Yippieeeee! :blob2: Let me grab a link real quick. Thanks for the heads up BombaySapphire3!

Texas grand jury indicts DeLay on new charge

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/9583433

AUSTIN, Texas - A Texas grand jury on Monday indicted U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering.

A different grand jury whose six-month term ended last week indicted him on a conspiracy charge, forcing DeLay to temporarily step down as House majority leader.

Both indictments accuse DeLay and two political associates of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling the money through the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee to the Republican National Committee in Washington. The RNC then sent back like amounts to distribute to Texas candidates in 2002, the indictment alleges.

The new charge was the first action from a new Travis County grand jury, which started its term Monday. Another grand jury, which ended its term Sept. 28, handed up 41 indictments in the three-year investigation.

The new indictment comes hours after DeLay's attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the first case. That motion was based on the argument that the conspiracy charge against DeLay was based on a law that wasn't effective until 2003, the year after the alleged money transfers.

“Since the indictment charges no offense, and since you have professed not to be politically motivated in bringing this indictment, I request that you immediately agree to dismiss the indictment so that the political consequences can be reversed,” attorney Dick DeGuerin wrote in a letter to Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

The judge who will preside in DeLay's case is out of the country on vacation and couldn't rule on the motion. Other state district judges declined to rule on the motion in his place, said Colleen Davis, a law clerk to Austin attorney Bill White, also represents DeLay.

No effect on the conspiracy charge?
George Dix, a professor at the University of Texas law school who is an expert in criminal law and procedure, said he doesn't believe changes made to the Texas election code by the 2003 legislature have any effect on the conspiracy charge.

The penal code's conspiracy charge allows for the charge if the defendants allegedly conspired to commit any felony, including an election code felony.

Just because the election code was “silent” on the penal code provision until 2003, it doesn't mean it wasn't a valid charge before 2003, Dix said.

“To me it just says, ‘We really mean what we said implicitly before,’” Dix said.

You're certainly welcome my dear.Always happy to tell brand new good news for a change!

No, I don't, but this made me want to get some for a celebration. :laugh:

Yes, thank you, time to do the happy dance again.

http://users.pandora.be/eforum/emoti.../happy/050.gif

:eek: :eek: :eek:

:blob2::blob2::blob1::blob1::blob2::blob2:

I'll happily drink your share and even everything out. :wavey:

I think he is guilty. However, it will be interesting to see if this sort of maverick prosecutor can make it stick. Regardless of that, it is abundantly clear that Delay has broken the spirit of the law by using the RNC to give corp. money to candidates. But, it will likely take someone to sing on him - at least from what I can see.

Ronnie Earle is no maverick prosecutor:

EARLE HAS PROSECUTED FOUR TIMES AS MANY DEMOCRATS AS REPUBLICANS: “Over Earle’s 27-year tenure, his Public Integrity Unit has prosecuted 15 elected officials, including 12 Democrats.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/05]

EARLE PROSECUTED DEMOCRATS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS OF STATE GOVERNMENT: “Some of the Democrats prosecuted by Earle and his Public Integrity Unit are former Texas House Speaker Gib Lewis, former Texas Attorney General Jim Mattox, former State Treasurer Warren Harding and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Yarbrough.” [AP, 12/12/04]

EARLE AIDES WENT ON TO RUN FOR OFFICE AS REPUBLICANS: “Some of his top assistants have been with him for decades. A few have gone on to run for elected office as Republicans.” [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/05]

FRIEND OF OFFICIAL TARGETED BY EARLE CALLED HIM A ‘BOY SCOUT’: “Democrats, for their part, are still upset over the prosecution of Attorney General Jim Mattox for bribery in 1985. … He was acquitted and years later, Jim Marston, a civil lawyer in Austin and friend of Mr. Mattox, asked Earle why he went ahead with the questionable case. “I said, ‘Ronnie, how can it be an abuse of power to threaten a lawyer? We threaten each other all the time.’ He told me that elected officials are held to a higher standard. They are supposed to be [above suspicion] like Caesar’s wife.’ It was then that Mr. Marston realized how deep Earle’s principles run. ‘Ronnie Earle is a Boy Scout who is offended by wrongdoings, chief among them, public officials’ abuse of power.’ [Christian Science Monitor, 12/03/04]

EARLE HAS REPUTATION AS PRINCIPLED, ‘OVERLY CAUTIOUS’: “Deliberate in the capital cases he sends to juries, Earle is well known for examining an issue from all angles before acting. ‘If I have any complaint about Ronnie, it’s that he is overly cautious about who he prosecutes,’ says Marston. ‘The fact that it has taken two years to investigate Tom DeLay is a sign not of partisanship, but of being completely careful.’” [Christian Science Monitor, 12/03/04]

EARLE HAS REPUTATION FOR ‘STRONG MORAL STREAK’: “[T]o those who know him, Earle has always exhibited a strong moral streak - from his formative years growing up in a small town outside Fort Worth, to his time on the Austin night court, to his political service in the state legislature. But they contend his morality is tempered by his compassion. ‘Ronnie is very principled and will do the right thing even if it isn’t the smartest political thing to do,’ says Ellen Halbert, a victim’s rights advocate.” [Christian Science Monitor, 12/03/04]

EARLE HAS REPUTATION FOR RESPECTING THE RULES: “‘One of the things I admired most about Ronnie was his indefatigable ability to go and meet with groups all over town all the time–right-wing groups, left-wing groups, the Rotary,’ says Bill Reid, an attorney who retired from Earle’s office in 1997. ‘He’s not a bloodthirsty prosecutor who wanted to get notches on his gun. There are some who have a reputation for walking close to the line in terms of evidence and rights, but there was never a push or inclination from him that we ought to bend the rules. Working for him, I was doing what I wanted to do, and I could go home and sleep at night.’” [Los Angeles Times, 5/15/05]

HOUSTON CHRONICLE: ALLEGATIONS OF PARTISANSHIP NOT SUPPORTED BY FACTS: Chronicle editorial: “The record does not support allegations that Earle is prone to partisan witch hunts.”

http://mediamatters.org/items/200411180003

Media complicit in spreading false GOP smear of district attorney investigating DeLay
As justification for altering party rules in the House of Representatives in order to allow Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) to retain his leadership position if indicted by a Texas grand jury on political corruption charges, Republicans have claimed that Travis County, Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who is investigating DeLay, is doing so for purely partisan reasons. This charge was dutifully echoed on FOX News Channel, and most other news outlets have reported it -- without noting that Earle has, in fact, prosecuted more Democratic politicians than Republican politicians.

While Earle is an elected Democrat, as Media Matters for America has previously noted, a March 17* editorial in the Houston Chronicle commended his work: "During his long tenure, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has prosecuted many more Democratic officials than Republicans. The record does not support allegations that Earle is prone to partisan witch hunts." This assertion supports Earle's own claim about his record; a March 6 article in the El Paso Times reported: "Earle says local prosecution is fundamental and points out that 11 of the 15 politicians he has prosecuted over the years were Democrats."

Nonetheless, DeLay has accused Earle of "trying to criminalize politics and using the criminal code to insert himself into politics," while Representative Henry Bonilla (R-TX) has referred to Earle as a "partisan crackpot district attorney." FOX News Channel commentators and reporters echoed this Republican line of attack against Earle:

BRIAN WILSON (FOX News Channel correspondent): "DeLay is making a not-so-veiled reference to this man, Ronnie Earle, the intensely partisan Democratic district attorney of Travis County, Texas. Under Earle's guidance, an Austin grand jury has indicted several of DeLay's associates as part of an investigation into a state political action committee." [FOX News Channel, Special Report with Brit Hume, 11/17/04]
MICHAEL BARONE (FOX News Channel contributor and U.S. News and World Report senior writer): "Ordinarily I would agree with the Democrats' point of view on this. This is, you know, changing the rule, lowering the ethical standards. But the fact is what you've got here is a prosecutor -- Travis County prosecutor, Ronnie Earle, a partisan Democrat who has done some really rotten, political prosecuting. ... So this is a rotten prosecutor who -- and I think in those circumstances, it's appropriate." [FOX News Channel, Special Report with Brit Hume, 11/17/04]
JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO (author and FOX News Channel senior judicial analyst): Tom DeLay's associates, people that have worked for him, and some who still do work for him, have all been indicted by a sort of renegade prosecutor in Texas, who has made it known that Tom DeLay is in his crosshairs. ...

JOHN GIBSON (host): OK, but now tell me about this prosecutor. You said quasi-renegade.

NAPOLITANO: I was being polite when I said quasi-renegade. The Republican leadership today called him a political crackpot. And there is a basis for calling him that. [FOX News Channel, The Big Story with John Gibson, 11/16/04]
Network and cable news outlets and several major newspapers also reported the charges leveled by Republicans against Earle without noting that Earle has, in fact, prosecuted more Democratic politicians than Republican politicians:

CHIP REID (NBC News correspondent): "In a display of DeLay's popularity and power within his own party, House Republicans changed the rules, allowing him to keep his position even if indicted, if Republicans determine the indictment is politically motivated. That's exactly what Republicans have already concluded about the Texas investigation, calling it a partisan witch hunt." [NBC, Nightly News, 11/17/04]
BOB ORR (CBS correspondent): "Three DeLay associates have already been indicted in what he [DeLay] claims is a politically motivated prosecution." [CBS, Evening News, 11/17/04]
LINDA DOUGLASS (ABC congressional correspondent): "A Democratic prosecutor in Texas has been investigating DeLay's role in changing the boundaries of the state's congressional districts. Three people connected to DeLay have already been indicted. ... DeLay says he's the target of a Democratic witchhunt." [ABC, World News Tonight, 11/17/04]
JUDY WOODRUFF (CNN host): "As some House Republicans tell it, their vote today to change party rules was not just about protecting Tom DeLay. They say it was about taking power away from a Democratic prosecutor who they believe may be eager to indict their majority leader."
JOE JOHNS (CNN congressional correspondent): "Fearing House Majority Leader Tom DeLay could be indicted in a grand jury investigation in Texas, rank-and-file Republicans in the House move to protect him from losing power if it happens. They see the Texas case, led by a prosecutor who is a Democrat, as politically motivated." [CNN, Inside Politics, 11/17/04]
BRIT HUME (FOX News Channel host): "Tom DeLay fears, as do others, that he may be indicted by a particular prosecutor down in Texas who has indicted Republicans in Washington before. And they feel that the indictment was likely to be politically motivated." [FOX News Channel, Special Report with Brit Hume, 11/17/04]
The Baltimore Sun: "DeLay said the action was necessary because of what he has called a politically motivated campaign by the prosecutor, Democrat Ronnie Earle. Earle 'is trying to criminalize politics and using the criminal code to insert himself into politics. I think that is wrong,' DeLay said. ... Republicans were concerned that Earle might indict DeLay to strip him of his leadership post even if the prosecutor never intended to pursue the charges, said DeLay's spokesman, Jonathan Grella." ["House GOP changes rule to protect DeLay," 11/18/04]
San Francisco Chronicle: "Republicans charge that the Texas investigation, led by Ronnie Earle, a veteran Democratic prosecutor in Austin, is a political effort designed to embarrass DeLay. ... 'This takes the power away from any partisan crackpot district attorney who may want to indict,' Bonilla said after the vote preserving DeLay's post." ["GOP tosses ethics rule so DeLay can keep post," 11/18/04]
The Dallas Morning News: "Many Republicans assert that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, is on a partisan witch-hunt." ["GOP eyeing rule to help DeLay: New law would allow leader to keep post in event of indictment," 11/17/04]
* This item originally indicated that the Houston Chronicle editorial was from June 17, 2004, and linked to a website providing the full text of the editorial but another incorrect date, March 17, 2003. In fact, the editorial was written on March 17, 2004.