US politician in hot water
2005-09-30 11:41
Larry Margasak
Washington - Representative Tom DeLay was summoned to appear in a Texas courtroom in three weeks, the initial legal step in his transition from the second-ranking House Republican to a criminal defendant. DeLay, meanwhile, provided new details about his behind-the scenes effort to try to convince prosecutors he shouldn't be indicted.
DeLay contended that after he recently met voluntarily with prosecutors, he was led to believe "it was pretty much over" and he would be spared indictment in a state campaign finance investigation. Two weeks ago, he said, the landscape suddenly changed because Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle buckled under pressure from fellow Democrats and the media - and tried to blame the switch on a "runaway" grand jury.
Earle has consistently denied the investigation of DeLay and his associates was political and has pointed out he has prosecuted more Democrats than Republicans.
DeLay was charged on Wednesday with conspiring with two political associates to use corporate donations to support Texas legislative candidates. State law only allows political committees to use corporate money for administrative expenses.
Corporate money
The Austin grand jury charged that the conspirators carried out the scheme by having the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee send corporate money to the Republican National Committee in Washington. The RNC then sent back a like amount -$190 000 - to distribute to Texas candidates.
Criminal conspiracy is a Texas felony punishable by six months to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10 000. The potential two-year sentence forced DeLay to step down as majority leader under House Republican rules.
DeLay was summoned by a judge to appear in court in Austin on October 21, but his lawyers are working to spare him the humiliation of being handcuffed, photographed and fingerprinted.
DeLay went on the offensive on Thursday in several broadcast interviews.
The Associated Press learned on Thursday that one witness before the grand jury was a former political director of the Republican National Committee, Terry Nelson, according to an official familiar with the grand jury deliberations who did not want to be identified speaking about grand jury matters.
The indictment said Nelson received a check for $190 000 in September 2002 that contained corporate donations given to a DeLay-founded Texas political committee. Jim Ellis, the DeLay associate, gave Nelson the check and also the names of Texas state House candidates who were to receive contributions from the donations, according to the indictment.
Court documents in the case also show that DeLay's daughter, political consultant Danielle Ferro, was subpoenaed in early 2004 to appear before the grand jury and bring records of work she did for TRMPAC.
- AP