Former Rep. DeLay, indicted on state campaign finance charges, begins new 'career' as blogger

There was an open comment thread at DeLay's blog, but sometime early Sunday evening the commenting function was disabled. In addition, DeLay's three initial posts at the blog were removed, with no explanations given for the removals.


Here are the comments from the 75-minute period where tom delay actually received feedback from America on his blog.

Sunday, December 10, 2006

Welcome to my blogWelcome to TomDeLay.com and thank you for visiting my new blog. Over the course of my political life I have learned many things, one of which is that not all good ideas come from Washington, D.C.. In fact I think that most of the best ideas come from concerned citizens from all over The United States.Unfortunately, many D.C. insiders are simply incapable of looking outside the capital beltway for fresh opinions and new approaches that might otherwise help our nation.I have created this blog in order to provide Americans with a new meeting place where such opinions and viewpoints might be better shared, discussed and debated; a place where conservative and traditionalist Americans might speak truth to power and to one another.In all honesty, I did not fully realize the impact or potential of the blogosphere until very recently, when Red State gave me the opportunity to post some of my observations in the wake of the recent midterm elections. The response I received was overwhelming, and I would like to again thank the fine people at that site.This experience brought me to the immediate realization that I needed to become involved in the blogosphere. TomDelay.com is the culmination of my new found understanding.I am both extremely excited and energized by this opportunity to meet with you here, in the online marketplace of ideas. I look forward to working in collaboration not competition with all those who already use blogs as a way to fight against and present an alternative to institutionalized liberal media bias.I hope that you will return often. Thanks again.
Posted on Sunday, December 10, 2006 at 03:23PM by Registered Commenter Tom DeLay

Comments:

High Tom I was just wondering what you thought of certain a Congressman who tried to get a bill passed claiming the war is "unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the President of the United States"
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter doctorsmith

Such unmitigated gall.Your 3 First Principles "Order, Justice, and Freedom" obviously don't include Honesty, Integrity, or Ethics. I particularly like the way the House Ethics Committee chairman, Joel Hefley, was removed after rebuking you 3 times. Yes, he was replaced by Delay groupie Doc Hastings, with a couple other groupies connected with your PAC. Sorta make sure no more untoward rebukes occur.It's good that you're no longer a Representative; the stench of the 109th Congress will take a long time to fix.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Wilbur

YOUR ARE A FUCKING DISGRACE TO THE IDEAS OF GOLDWATER. CRAWL BACK INTO A HOLE YOU TURD!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Clayton Hutchinson

Zalmay Khalilzad is now resigning as ambassador to Iraq. In my opinion, a staunch supporter of the war such as yourself should volunteer to fill this important post. It would do you some good to get first hand knowledge regarding Iraq, a country in which the situation is said to be "grave" and "deteriorating."
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Larry Talbot

What a magnificently, terrifically boring and irrelevant blog. Honestly, who on earth cares what you have to say?
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Miles Coverdale

You left Congress disgracefully and you want people to take you seriously? You should be in prison you assclown, piss off Tom.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter

Tom you suckTom DeLay is a pussy-ass faggot moneygrubber.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Jar Jar

Didn't we already stick a fork in your ass and decide you're done?To paraphrase you: You WERE the Federal Government...now you're a nothing.The fact that you are trying to keep your name alive by starting a stupid blog is actually kind of pathetic and sad. Please just go away.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Meadows

You wouldn't know "honesty" if came up and BIT YOU IN THE ASS.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Bill Davis

How pathetic you are, Mr. Delay. You are a criminal, and you should be serving time in jail alomg with your buddies Abramhoff and Cunningham.The damage you have done to this country is reprehinsible.Do us all a favor and just disappear, you sorry excuse for a person.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter cosmo

Tom,When you're locked up, will you smuggle blog posts out in your visitors' rectums?December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Rick DerrisSLeaze bag!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Joe

Aesthetically speaking, this is the most visually bland yet offensive piece of crap to ever find it's way onto a server.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter dfd

Tom, you corrupted the conservative cause and brought disgrace to our party. We can never forgive you for that. Please crawl back into your hole.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter American Patriot

OK, fuck all you critics, I was the best leader the House of Representatives has ever had. Don't try to smear me, I am the definition of honesty and integrity, so fuck all you liberal commies.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

Forget the blog, Tom. Just hook up with OJ and write a book.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Me Too

Everyone already assumes bloggers are unemployed losers... thanks for reinforcing that stereotype...
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Marc

Is this blog serious? And if so, then did you mean it when you said that "unfortunately, many D.C. insiders are simply incapable of looking outside the capital beltway for fresh opinions and new approaches that might otherwise help our nation?"WTF were you doing during those years of gerrymandering and hammering away votes for Bush's rubberstamp 109th Congress? Were you looking outside the beltway for fresh opinions and new approaches then?No wonder your miserable party lost last month. And the longer you act detached from reality, the longer you and your party will suffer a horrible isolation by the American people. And besides, you're a potential criminal.I suggest you focus on that rather than this stupid blogl.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Dookiestix

When I go to prison I will have the best bitch in the cellblock so eat your hearts out. His name is Jack Abramhoff and he gives good head.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

WoW! America's poster-child for white entitlement, greed, authoritarianism and the exploitation religion for corporate interests finally has a blog! The intertubz are finally complete... Go back to your hole Tom. Your "conservative revolution" is dead. No one cares what a ignorant exterminator has to say anymore, now that we are all pretty sure you're a criminal.Though in all honesty, keep posting. This should be entertaining... in a "rubbernecking a car accident" sort of way.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter raoul duke

I am crook and a liar. I only care about my own enrichment.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

Oh, fuck all you critics. I was the best Republican leader of the House Majority ever! Now if you'll excuse me, I have appointment to get reamed up the butt by Rev. Ted Haggard, another good conservative Christian. Hey, I gotta practice for when I finally end up in the big house. Toodles!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom DeLay

Fuck you all, i am the greatest assfucker ever.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

You are a fucking moron
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter john wTom,

Amazon has a new book you should bone up on (forgive the pun)"How to have great sex in the American prison system"I mean while you're there, try to make good memories.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Jim Montague

Although I am against Tom having any free and legimate contact with the "normal" folk of the great United States, the responses to this blog just made my Sunday. Hee hee. Thanks Tom!! But seriously, someone should do us a favor and escort Tom to Iraq, outside of the green zone so he can practice order, justice and freedom...for uh let's say 90 seconds.

December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter SAK

Oh, by the way I mostly put the blame on your corrupted,twisted,criminal,phycotic,evil existance on your PARENTS who bought your no-good ass into this world.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Bill Davis

Did I mention that you are a fucking moron?
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter john

whahahahahawhat a joke.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Muhammed Ali

Go drink some ddt you assholes, i am going to church so I can get a blow job from some alter boys.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

Just thought I'd mention you are a fucking moron
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter john w

You corrupt hypocrite, crawl back to the hole you came out of.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter An American

I think I said this but just in case - you are a fucking moron
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter john w

I can see you have an adoring public.Don't lose your body guards.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter xoites

Take this from a soldier and a veteran: Where is your integrity. You were getting paid while we're dying in Iraq.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter GI Joe

Mr DeLay,I'm quite distressed that you are using the f-word in response to these people saying such terrible things about you. Please clean up your language! I'll pray for you, sir.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Suzie Sue

may your days in prison be filled with water-boarding, anal sodomy, and eye-liner...to be duke cuuningham's bitch is too good for you, you wretched little man...
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter e coli

Nobody wants to hear from you, Tom Delay. Disappear. Suck on some dog eggs while you wait to go to prison. Maybe your pretty little bride will find someone with a little integrity while you're away, but I doubt it. You don't screw America and then expect us to take you seriously.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Terry Olson

I like to smother myself in tapioca pudding and play the bongos in front of the fireplace. Looking for S/W/M who shares same interests.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

This is a joke, right?
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter BatMan

rot in hell bich!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter mike

Oh my, Mr. Delay, I make a killer tapioca, and my brother left his bongos last time he was here. Would you be interested....? I love your hair.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Suzie Sue

Oh Tom, just shut this blog down, it is hurting our regressive reputation. If you could've just shown a little more integrity and fucked a couple of page boys you wouldn't be in any trouble but you had to take some money from Jack. I will miss you Tom, we need more crooks like you in Congress, those librul Dems are just gonna get in the way of fucking this country in the ass.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter George W. Bush

Thanks,Tom.You had the opportunity to be a good public servant, and you used it to gerrymander and slander and line your own pockets. Great example for the kids. What a prick.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered CommenterBarney

Is suzie sue your stage name??
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Bubba

The polling here seems unscientific but i think the overall sentiment is quite accurate.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter xoites

My "friends" in the pen called me Sally the Stank.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Bubba

When you sign on to start helping Americans and Iraqis outside that green zone, maybe I'll start taking you seriously. Until then you're just another power hungry politico-criminal who has taken my belief system and values and exploited them to achieve your ends. You're about as Christian as a horse's ass, with scarcely a trace of integrity.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Puh-leez

Stanley won't replace this hammer free of charge if it ever breaks, rusts, or otherwise can't perform it's duties.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Rick Santorum

Tom, you are a disgusting piece of shit.Tom, you are a disgusting piece of shit.Tom, you are a disgusting piece of shit.Tom, you are a disgusting piece of shit.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Wade F. Godot

all you libruls, get off Toms back, he is one great American hero and he will get a medal for his great service to our corporations, so just fuck of you libruls.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter George W. Bush

Fuck you Tom
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter George W. Bush

Oh Bubba, bless your heart. I'm sure Mr. DeLay knows someone in a ministry who could help you with your problem...
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Suzie Sue

for K Street loser.Have fun in prison and do not drop the soap.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter getalife

Go back to killing bugs, Tom. You did everything you could while in the House to steal money from the American people and channel it to your friends. You deserve jail time, not public discourse.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Person of Integrity

Fuck you W, get off my blog
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

hi, tom!!!!so glad you joined the blogosphere! now you can link to my articles and to michelle's too :)speaking of michelle, she just received a new batch of iraqi baby blood from general pace...if you would like to come up to nyc, drop in and you can suck on some of it too!and, to you liberals on here....HAVE I TOLD YOU LATELY HOW MUCH I HATE YOU!!!!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter ann coulter

If your vision was complete the world had been turned into a pile cockroach infested cinders. Remember how much a part you could have played in destroying the world and the American democratic experiment.Thankfully though, you and your Maoist republican friends have been driven back to the Texan prostitutes den...spread your virus amongst yourselves.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Sasquatch

President Bush! I am shocked! Surely you and Mr. DeLay support one another! Please reconsider your language. I'll pray for you, too!You are a fine gentleman, and I have encouraged all six of my sons to be just like you. And I have forced all four of my daughters to be just like Jenna and Barbara. Their daddy loves them so...
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Suzie Sue

My hairpiece was carefully hand crafted by slave labor using only the best of Ted Haggard's pubic hair.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

I hope this works!Wanted: Former discraced yet handsome minister into male backrubs and meth use. Me: A stylish 6'4" male ex-con with several large appendages and a hairy back yet a smooth head looking for a friendship first then LTR. Let's Get It On!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Bubba

I am glad to see the Hammer has found some work. Tom, you best make some good money from your effort blogging as you will soon have to spend some time with your new cell mate. You are a worthless peice of shit that has been puffed up with lobbyuist meals and taxpayer funds. It is because of you that your republican buddies are all leaving DC. Thanks for your help on that you ethically challenged pile of shit. Better yet, FUCK YOU, you nazis bastard. Maybe the buddies you made in the Marianas Islands can help you out You have no business criticizing Jimmy Carter you whacked out nut.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Chris in N

Mummm....have you decided on who is gonna be your pimp in jail?..now there is something you can blog about.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter fuckyoutom

WOW! The only thing better than all of these posts, is imagining that fucktard sitting and reading these tonight and then trying to "filter" us all out. What a sad sad man. HE HE! :)December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter TiMM4HH!

Fuck this, i am the best Congress have ever seen. Soon I will be the best excogressman to take it in the ass, I will be the best bitch, promise, don't you believe me, I would never lie.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

hi, tom!!!mmmmm, i have the biggest, blackest, leather strap-on just for you, you bad bad boy...i am going to ream you out until you squeal like a little ann coulter-pig...-this will get you ready for rufus in the big house-
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter michelle malkin

I'm beginning to think this blog was a big mistake.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered CommenterTom Delay

Haha this comments section is the funniest thing I have seen all day. Looks like things have started off with a bang, Tom!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Commie Liberal

I can't help but think of DeLay standing over this web server screaming, "How do you turn this fucking thing off!"Let's hear it for the First Amendment, eh Tommy-boy?December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter devilbushGreat blog Tom, you really have some big fans and I hope to start a blog and get the same praise as you are receiving today. Gotta go shoot a pal in the face so have a great day Tom, great blog.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Dick Cheney

Eat me, Tom.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Skank

How many times did you put your daughter Danielle in a hot tub and feed her to the lobbyists? Is that why they paid her the 500K?
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Mike

Here's an idea.Go away!You are a divisive, elitist lack of a human being who cares nothing for the little guy.You claim to be a Christian?Why are you against the poor and publicly funded education, among so many other subjects?Tom, you need to truly find God instead of molding him to your privileged, white upbring.I pray for your soul because I don't think you have one. I have never believed I am righteous in my life.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Paul

"There is nothing more important than cutting taxes in a time of war."Or so says the EXTERMINATOR / HAMMERWell, how's this for a corrallary:"There is nothing more important than treating your hemroids in a time of JAIL."
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Atheist

Remember this Tom?As the war progressed, DeLay condemned "(President Clinton's) war," and grumbled in April, 1999, that, "There are no clarified rules of engagement. There is no timetable. There is no legitimate definition of victory. There is no contingency plan for mission creep. There is no clear funding program. There is no agenda to bolster our overextended military. There is no explanation defining what vital national interests are at stake. There was no strategic plan for war when the President started this thing, and there still is no plan today."
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Joe Wilson

GOD, I HATE YOU PEOPLE!!!mr delay wants a place for all those who love him and miss him to come and visit and leave notes of adoration, and, you, you LIBERAL SWINE, have ruined his opening...if i ever see any of you, i will BITE YOU IN THE NECK and poison you with my saliva...love and kisses,ann coulter
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter ann coulter

Haven't you gone back to killing roaches yet, Tom? I know your brain's most likely scrambled due to the use of toxic chemicals (after all, how else could you justify your politics?) but now that you're out of office, what else are you going to do? Oh, right. You're going to become the next Jack Abramoff. Silly me.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered CommenterP.

God I am glad Tom is still around so we can continue making fun of just how wrong he is. We owe him a debt of gratitude for helping destroy conservative philosophy and the GOP (Gang of Pedophiles). Keep going you moron, we need more of your help. Maybe you can share a cell with Mark Foley or Jack Abramoff; you could all be butthole buddies. Have Fun
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Honest

Would you expect anything different Tom. It will be good to see you in prison garb. Make sure you say Hi to Bubba down there in Texas prison and make sure to drop the soap once in a while, you deserve some bum pumping for what you have done. Sincerely though, you are a piece of shit and no friend of America.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter howie

Hey Tom,,Just reminding you about the old Klan-bible reading party tonight at Rusty's. Don't forget to bring your hood.See you there
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Jack Ruby

Hi Tom cool blog. I hope you can cum join me in prison soon, my rectum just gets moist every time I think about you Tom. Just plead guilty because you know you are. Don't bring that soap on a rope, you wont need it, Hugs and kisses ,Jack.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Jack Abramhoff

tomdon't worry about unsustainable deficits, just keep redistributing the wealth to all the patriots and pioneersdon't worry about the bill of rights, the 10 commandments will do just fine, we can sin under either one, you've proved to be able to shit on most of both anywaydon't worry about the person, the corporation is much more importantdon't worry about your crimes, they just have a max sentance of life in prison, someone thought that suborning the vote in a democracy was a big thing, go figureby the way, fuck you and the horse you came with last night
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter tofubo

I thought there was a filter? Is this how your friends talk to you, Tom?I finger myself just thinking about you reading your comments sections. Of course, I totally fucking cum when I look at your mug shot. Oh my god!! Maybe you could sign one for me? Please? I'll suck you off.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Skank

Tom !You never call anymore ?! Pastor Haggard wants to Hang out and ya know .... get a massage ;oHugs & kisses **Jeff Gannon / Jim Guckert / Johnny GoschDecember 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Jeff GannonGod, this has got to be tough to hear your friends say this about you:Rep. Zach Wamp: "Our leadership and some of our members grew arrogant in their own power, and with arrogance comes corruption,"---snip---"If Tom DeLay said it one time, he said it 15 times: 'The most important thing we can do for the American people is keep our Republican majority.' That was just wrong, and it had to catch up to us in the end."
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Rick Santorum

Fuck you, Gannon, I was here first. Get lost, fairy.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Skank

Come on!"Tom Delay" isn't actually Tom Delay!Eat more fish.Good grief.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Paul

Let me see: 98 posts. 98 unanimous posts.You really do have a knack for organizing people.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter xoites

As a child, my hamster came to an untimely and unnatural demise in my Easy Bake Oven.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Tom Delay

This is a good example of values that I hold dear to my heart. All these great comments, i am just impressed with all these great fans you have Tom, keep up the great work Tom!
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Rick Santorum

Ya'll are invited to my house for an orgy tonight. Super discreet! Tom, you come over too, you can have a reunion with all your friends. The fucking is sooooo boring, but I charge admission, so it's all good. I just wish Ricky Santorum would leave my dog alone.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Skank

youhavekilled500,000ofus....fromthegraveweshoutFUCK YOU TOM DELAY
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter dead iraqi children

Justice would have you spending a lifetime making clothes in a sweatshop at pennies a day.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter ricky bobby

Do I make you horny?Cool, but you are too old for me.
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter Mark Foley

Dear Mr. Delay,Please ignore all untoward comments published here. We will take care of you. You have served us well and we do not forget.After you get a little tired of this exercise in free expression please bring your family along and report to the Eunuchizing Station. You and your family will be well cared for, as long as you remember your place in the grand scheme of things.Merry Christmas,Your overseeers in the oilarchcy
December 10, 2006 Unregistered Commenter ExxonMobil

DeLay: Republicans got a ‘Texas whupping’

One of the House seats the Democrats snagged from Republicans came in the Texas district of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Republicans have held this seat for more than 20 years. Democrat Nick Lampson defeated Republican Shelley Sekula-Gibbs. Sekula-Gibbs will finish the last two months of Tom DeLay’s term before Lampson takes over.

Former Congressman Tom DeLay announced his resignation from Congress back in April to fight corruption charges in Texas.

Discontent with GOP finds way into Texas

By SUZANNE GAMBOA, Associated Press Writer
Tue Oct 17, 3:19 PM ET

DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas - The economy is strong and Rickye Lennon's excavation business is thriving. Yet his son may soon go to war, government scandals are in the news, and Lennon, a Republican deep in the heart of Bush country, doesn't think his party should remain in charge of Congress.

"I think we need a wake-up call," said Lennon, 50, of Dripping Springs. "They need to be paying attention to the issues the people are concerned about and I think we need to become more moderate in our views."

Three weeks to the midterm elections, GOP discontent is seeping into the home state of President Bush, where every statewide elected official is a Republican.

The state's Republican House members were supposed to be protected from such voter mood swings by the 2003 redrawing of the state's congressional districts, orchestrated by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

But largely because of DeLay, who resigned in June embroiled in scandal, Texas this year unexpectedly is one of the states that could help Democrats wrest control of the House from the GOP this November. Races for three of the state's 32 congressional seats are considered competitive.

No Republican is listed on the ballot in the race for the seat once held by DeLay. That's left Democrat Nick Lampson the favorite against write-in Republican candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.

Democrats hope the congressional page scandal will help push Republican Rep. Henry Bonilla (news, bio, voting record) into a runoff against one of his seven challengers for a district stretching from near El Paso to Laredo.

And voter unease also may thwart Republican efforts to seize the Central Texas district that is home to Bush's ranch, a congressional seat now held by Democratic Rep. Chet Edwards (news, bio, voting record).

There is disquiet in the state's gubernatorial race, too, in which incumbent GOP Gov. Rick Perry is polling only in the high 30s against three challengers.

Walter Dean Burnham, a professor emeritus in the University of Texas at Austin government department, said that while "there certainly is some sign of discontent" in the state, he expected its impact in congressional races to be limited.

"I don't see any good reason the love affair with the Republican Party has weakened all that much," he said.

News that Republican Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record) sent illicit electronic messages to congressional pages was unfolding when Lennon stopped at the Dripping Springs post office recently. A cap embroidered with "Legends of Texas Swing Music Festival" shielded his eyes as he slapped dust from his jeans.

To Lennon, the handling of the Foley scandal and ethical problems involving other congressmen are examples of Republican hypocrisy.

"It's cronyism," he said. "There are a lot of people out there that will do anything they can to protect their party. That's wrong. We have to do what's right. We have laws that everyone has to follow and they are not above that law."

He expects to vote for his Democratic congressman, Lloyd Doggett of Austin.

Others are ready to give the GOP another chance.

Sokhom Chum, who lives in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton, said there's plenty he doesn't like about Congress. The finger-pointing is wearing on him and he'd like to see more compromise on immigration.

But Chum, 46, said he is willing to give Republicans another year to resolve the Iraq war and do a better job of governing. "I'm a patient man. The economy seems to be doing fine," he said.

Two years ago, Republicans took charge of the Texas congressional delegation, winning 22 of 32 House seats. The DeLay-led redistricting ensured few competitive races. Democrats produced some competition when they sued to keep Republicans from replacing DeLay on the ballot.

And while Republicans pledged to spend as much as a $4 million on the race, the money hasn't materialized. Such spending has become less likely as the Foley scandal puts at risk more Republican seats around the country.

In Edwards' district, Republican challenger Van Taylor has waged a blistering campaign that accuses the Democratic incumbent of being soft on illegal immigration. But voters were more likely to mention Edwards' work to keep open the local veterans hospital and snare a homeland security contract for one of the district's largest employers.

"I generally vote Republican, but in Chet's case ... he is looking out for the people and his district," said John Henry, 66, of Waco.

On Tuesday, Edwards' campaign gleefully trumpeted reports that the national Republican committee had abandoned plans to spend $1.5 million on the race. Taylor's campaign would not confirm the reports, but spokesman Mike Spellings said, "We were prepared from the very beginning to win this campaign on our own and Van has shown that he is adept at raising money."

Bonilla found himself in an unexpected fight after the Supreme Court ruled that Hispanic voting strength had been diluted in his district and ordered it redrawn. Now that the district is more Hispanic, his Democratic challengers are hoping for a runoff, although Bonilla still is favored to win.

Bonilla acknowledged his party faces challenges, listing DeLay's resignation and the Foley page scandal among others, but says the Democratic uproar is an "act of the devil" to distract voters.

"It's like a family member, when somebody goes bad," Bonilla said. "It makes it harder for the whole family to function."

GOP sends cash, Cheney to Texas

Sept. 28, 2006
Staff And Wire Reports

The national Republican Party has joined the fight to replace former U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, donating more than $100,000 to the Republican candidate's write-in candidacy and sending Vice President Dick Cheney to a Houston fundraiser for her next week.

Although the party has yet to deliver anywhere near the $3 million once claimed by state GOP Chairwoman Tina Benkhiser, a spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee confirmed Wednesday that the group had donated $99,465 to assist the campaign of GOP candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.

Cheney is scheduled to appear in Houston on Oct. 4.

Jared Woodfill, Harris County Republican chairman, said Sekula-Gibbs announced Cheney's visit when she addressed the county's Republican executive committee Tuesday.

Texas court to reconsider DeLay charge

By APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press
Sept. 13, 2006, 10:14AM

AUSTIN, Texas — The state's highest criminal appeals court said Wednesday it would consider reinstating a conspiracy charge against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, further delaying his felony money laundering trial.

A Travis County grand jury indicted DeLay and two political consultants last year on charges stemming from Republican fundraising during the 2002 legislative races.

A state district court judge later threw out one of two conspiracy charges. Prosecutors asked the appeals court to reinstate the dropped charge, and the court said Wednesday that it would consider that request.

Judge Pat Priest said he would proceed with DeLay's trial when the appeals process has ended.

DeLay stepped down as majority leader after the charges were filed and announced his resignation from Congress a few months later. He and other Texas Republicans have accused prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, of conducting a political vendetta.

"It's just another bump in the road," DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said Wednesday. "I thought they would just refuse to get involved but at the same time, I'm not really shocked by it."

Earle did not immediately return a phone call from The Associated Press.

Both sides will be given time to file their arguments with the Court of Criminal Appeals, which will then set a date for oral arguments. A ruling is not likely to come before next year, said Ed Marty, general counsel to the court.

Prosecutors accuse DeLay and the two consultants of violating state law by funneling $190,000 in illegal corporate money to the Republican National Committee, which then donated the same amount to Texas candidates. Under Texas law, corporate money can't be directly used for political campaigns.

DeLay and the consultants, Jim Ellis and John Colyandro, say the transaction was legal.

The dispute over the dismissed charge centers on whether the conspiracy statute applied to the state's election code in 2002. DeLay was accused of conspiring to violate the election code, but his attorneys say that transaction was not illegal at the time. DeGuerin says the dropped charge accuses DeLay of conspiring to violate the election code as it stood in 2003.

The other conspiracy count DeLay faces accuses him of conspiring to launder money.

Lobbying-and-bribery probe eyes payments to DeLay's wife

RAW STORY
Published: Wednesday September 6, 2006

Recent FBI interviews with members of a lobbying firm indicate that the Justice Department is investigating whether former House Majority Leader Tom Delay's wife earned $115,000 over three years for a no-show job, according to an article by The Wall Street Journal.

"The two-year investigation is examining whether lobbyist Jack Abramoff and others sought legislative favors for their clients by offering expensive meals, sports tickets, golf outings and other gifts to about a dozen lawmakers and congressional aides," reports Brody Mullins.



Excerpts from the WSJ story:

#
In the last few weeks, Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have interviewed several people at the Alexander Strategy Group lobbying firm to determine if Christine DeLay was being paid $3,200 a month -- a total of $115,000 over three years -- but not earning it. In a series of interviews last month, investigators questioned people who used to work at Alexander Strategy as well as people who worked in the same building as the now-defunct firm. "They wanted to know how often she came to the office? What did she do there? How long was she there?" said one person who was interviewed by the FBI.

Alexander Strategy was run by a pair of Mr. DeLay's former aides: Tony Rudy, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges in March; and Edwin Buckham, who remains under investigation. The firm also shared clients with Jack Abramoff.

In last month's interviews, investigators also asked about $144,000 that Mrs. DeLay received from one of Mr. DeLay's fund-raising committees, the Americans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee, which was housed at the lobbying firm's offices. Investigators also inquired about fees paid to Mr. DeLay's daughter, Dani DeLay Ferro, a longtime political consultant to her father.

Richard Cullen, a lawyer for the DeLay family, said Mrs. DeLay was a "key adviser to her husband and her employment at Armpac and Alexander Strategy was real and valuable." Mr. Cullen has said that Mrs. DeLay's job at the firm was to compile a list of lawmakers' favorite charities. Neither Mr. DeLay nor his wife has been interviewed by the Justice Department, Mr. Cullen said.

Political soap opera
The plot lines in the race to replace Tom DeLay in Congress just keep getting more tangled.

2006 Houston Chronicle

When former Congressman Tom DeLay bailed out of his District 22 seat a month after winning the Republican nomination this spring, little did he know that his defection would wind up creating dual races, with Democrat Nick Lampson holding the inside track to the one that counts.

A court battle waged by Texas Democrats prevented Republicans from replacing DeLay's name on the ballot. That made Lampson the favorite to win a two-year term in the general election. Write-in candidate Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, a Houston City councilwoman endorsed by the Republican Party, is given little chance to win because of the difficulty in registering write-in votes and the presence of a second certified Republican write-in candidate, Don Richardson.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry added a final touch of the absurd this week by calling a special election on the same date to fill the final two months of DeLay's term. Lampson promptly announced he would not participate in the special election. That means the winner will likely serve in Congress for less than two months before being replaced.

Sekula-Gibbs has filed for the special election. Should she choose to set up a 2008 rematch with Lampson, she would benefit from the brief exposure as a holiday season member of Congress. The drawback is that if she wins the special election she will have to resign her at-large position on City Council, forfeiting a year of political visibility in that position. That would also necessitate a costly special citywide election to replace her on council, triggering a rush of municipal hopefuls to fill out the term.

As a result of the electoral twists and turns, Republicans going to the polls in District 22 in November will need to master the write-in process, and everybody will have to figure out why they are voting for the same seat twice.

However it turns out, this election is guaranteed to provide political scientists a trove of future research material on voter behavior.

DeLay's name stays on ballot

Items compiled from Tribune news services
Published August 4, 2006

AUSTIN, TEXAS -- A federal appeals court panel on Thursday refused to let Texas Republicans replace Tom DeLay's name on the November congressional ballot.

The finding upheld a July ruling by a federal judge that the ballot must list DeLay, who won a March primary before resigning from Congress on June 9.

He now lives in Virginia but is awaiting trial in Texas state court on money laundering and conspiracy charges alleging that illegal corporate cash helped pay for legislative campaigns in 2002.

The Republicans' lawyer said he would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Republicans want to pick another nominee to face Democrat Nick Lampson in November. Democrats sued to keep DeLay on the ballot. Keeping him on the ballot presumably gives them an easier race.

CREW FEC COMPLAINT AGAINST REP. DELAY PAC – ARMPAC – RESULTS IN $115,000 FINE

One of the Largest Fines in FEC History

Washington, DC – Last night, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) released a conciliation agreement reached with Americans for a Republican Majority political action committee (ARMPAC) stemming from a complaint Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed against the PAC last August. As a result of CREW's FEC complaint, ARMPAC has agreed to pay a $115,000 civil penalty and go out of business. ARMPAC was created and led by former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX).

This is one of the 50 largest fines ever obtained by the FEC in its 30-year history.

The FEC found that:

--ARMPAC failed to report accurately nearly a quarter million dollars in contributions and expenditures during the 2001-2002 election cycle.

--ARMPAC failed to report nearly $325,000 in debts owed to 25 campaign vendors.

--ARMPAC improperly used over $200,000 in soft money to pay for federal election activity. In particular, ARMPAC improperly used over $120,000 in soft money to pay for GOTV activities in Texas immediately before the 2002 general election.

CREW’s executive director, Melanie Sloan, stated, “the conciliation agreement reached between the FEC and ARMPAC shows a clear pattern of abuse of campaign finance laws.” Sloan continued, “on a disturbingly regular basis we learn that former House Majority Leader DeLay violated the law. From the Jack Abramoff scandal to the violations of Texas campaign finance laws, to Rep. DeLay’s misuse of charitable organizations, the list seems endless. It is time for federal investigators to step in and undertake a thorough investigation of Rep. DeLay’s financial dealings so that the public can learn the true extent of Rep. DeLay’s illegal activities and he can be held accountable.”

Delay Redux?

By MIKE ALLEN, HILARY HYLTON
Sunday, Jul. 9, 2006

Could Tom DeLay be headed back to the House? A source close to the ex-Congressman tells TIME that DeLay is planning an aggressive campaign to retake the House seat he quit in June if an appeals court lets stand a ruling by a federal judge last week that his name must stay on November's ballot--even though he has moved to Virginia. "If it isn't overturned, Katy bar the door!" says a G.O.P. official. "Guess he'll have to fire up the engines on the campaign and let 'er rip." DeLay, awaiting trial for money laundering, never intended to fade away. He plans to give paid speeches and has signed a deal to have his bio penned by best-selling author Stephen Mansfield. But to run, DeLay would have to raise money fast: his campaign fund has well under $1 million left. At least he knows his would-be opponent well: ex-Congressman Nick Lampson's original district was eliminated in a redistricting engineered by DeLay.

He's Baaaaack?

Indicted DeLay must stay on November ballot: Court

Reuters
Thursday, July 6, 2006; 1:59 PM

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Former House Republican Leader Tom DeLay, indicted in Texas on campaign-finance related charges, must stay on the ballot in November's congressional elections despite withdrawing from the race, a federal judge ruled on Thursday.

A local Republican Party official said the ruling by a U.S. court judge in Austin, Texas, would be appealed within 30 days.

"Ultimately, everyone knows the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals will be the final arbiter of this," said Harris County Republican Party Chairman Jared Woodfill.

DeLay was forced to resign as majority leader last year after being indicted in Texas. Hurt by the criminal charges as well as an expanding scandal involving disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, he dropped his re-election bid when he faced a strong Democratic challenger.

A Republican backbencher who rose to power as a conservative leader in the House, he resigned from Congress on June 9 to give Republican Party officials time to replace him on the November ballot. DeLay had moved from his suburban Houston congressional district to Virginia.

Democrats sought an order to keep DeLay on the ballot, claiming he could not declared ineligible under the U.S. Constitution until election day.

DeLay has not been charged in the Abramoff scandal, but two former aides have pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

New York Times: DeLay bids Congress a torrid goodbye

06/08/2006 @ 9:28 pm
Filed by RAW STORY

The New York Times, calling former Congressman Tom Delay, "defiant to the end," labels his departure from Congress "torrid" and describes it as highly contentious, RAW STORY has learned.

According to the Times, "Democrats resisted a Republican plan to allow him to deliver his valedictory from the House floor. But DeLay crossed them up by submitting his resignation from the Appropriations Committee on the floor, providing an opening for his speech celebrating political discord."

As DeLay spoke in glowing terms of partisan politics as superior to statesmanship and compromise, Republicans applauded but many of the Democrats soon exited, noisily showing their displeasure.

Even those few dozen House Democrats who stayed throughout the speech were not won over. The final verdict of Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) on DeLay was "Bitter to the bitter end."

DeLay’s Dirty (Baker’s) Dozen

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been a busy man these last few years. Whether bribing congressmen, threatening political opponents, vacationing with lobbyists, or gutting House ethics rules, it’s been hard to keep up with all the Hammer’s activities. Here are thirteen highlights from DeLay’s illustrious career:

DELAY KILLED INVESTIGATION INTO LABOR ABUSE IN MARIANAS ISLANDS: In 1998, DeLay helped kill a “congressional fact-finding trip that was being planned as part of an investigation of sweatshop conditions in the garment industry in the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Jack Abramoff represented the Northern Mariana Islands at the time, aiding them in their quest to avoid U.S. labor laws. To this end, Abramoff flew dozens of lawmakers and their aides for luxurious vacations to the balmy islands, including one 1997-98 New Year’s trip for DeLay and his wife. (It was on this trip that DeLay called Abramoff “one of my closest and dearest friends.”) Later that year, Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) decided to leading a fact-finding investigation into worker abuse in the islands’ garment industry. When DeLay caught wind of the investigation, his office threatened the Hoekstra with loss of his subcommittee chairmanship if he continued.

DELAY RAISED CORPORATE CASH FOR TRMPAC: DeLay is embroiled in a scandal in Texas for his active participation in illegally funneling corporate funds to assist state political campaigns. DeLay’s political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is under criminal investigation for using corporate money to finance Texas campaigns. DeLay has tried to distance himself from the group, but documents show DeLay “personally forwarded at least one large check” to the group and was “in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation’s largest companies” on TRMPAC’s behalf. [Source: NYT, 3/10/05; Salon, 10/04/04]

DELAY BRIBED CONGRESSMAN TO VOTE FOR MEDICARE: DeLay has admitted offering to endorse Sen. Nick Smith’s (R-MI) son Brad, who was running for Congress at the time, in exchange for Smith’s “yea” vote on the Medicare bill. His actions violated House rules and earned DeLay a “public admonishment” from the Ethics Committee. Smith originally alleged — and then retracted after pressure from House leaders — that DeLay also offered a $100,000 bribe for his vote. DeLay extended the role call on the Medicare bill for nearly three hours in order “to avoid an embarrassing loss.” [Slate, 10/1/04; WP, 10/1/04]

DELAY USED TAXPAYER MONEY FOR PARTISAN STUNT: The House ethics panel rebuked DeLay for using government resources to help locate a private plane he thought was carrying Texas Democratic legislators. DeLay was trying to force the legislators back to the capitol so he could push through his “bitterly disputed congressional redistricting.” The ethics report cited House rules that bar members from taking “any official action on the basis of the partisan affiliation…of the individuals involved” and said DeLay’s behavior raised “serious concerns under such “standards of conduct.” [WP, 10/7/04]

DELAY PAID FOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS WITH CASH MEANT FOR KIDS: DeLay used a children’s charity, Celebrations for Children Inc., as cover for collecting soft money from anonymous interest groups, some of which was used for “dinners, a golf tournament, a rock concert, Broadway tickets and other fundraising events” at the Republican convention in New York. Because the money was supposedly for charity, companies wishing to curry favor with DeLay were able to do so without revealing themselves as campaign donors. Federal laws governing tax-exempt charities allow no more than an insubstantial portion of a group’s revenue to be spent on activities other than the charity’s main stated purpose. [CBS, 11/14/03; WP, 3/24/04]

DELAY PROMISED ‘SEAT AT TABLE’ FOR DONOR: In one of its three public rebukes, the House Ethics Committee cited the belief on the part of executives at an energy company, Westar Energy Inc., that a $56,500 contribution to a political action committee associated with DeLay would get them a “seat at the table” where key energy legislation was being drafted. DeLay also participated in Westar’s golf fundraiser at The Homestead resort in the summer of 2002, ” just as the House-Senate conference on major energy legislation…was about to get underway.” [WP, 10/7/04]

DELAY TOOK MONEY FROM TEXAS PRISON COMPANY WITH LEGISLATION PENDING: DeLay “took a $100,000 check from a private prison company” — the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) — at a fundraiser for his children’s charity, the DeLay Foundation for Kids. CCA — whose 20-year history has been “fraught with malfeasance, mismanagement, and abuse” — was part of an ongoing lobby for a bill that would privatize up to half of Texas’s jails. DeLay is known for wielding major influence over the Republican-led legislature that will decide on the matter. [Knight Ridder, 11/30/04; Texas Observer, 6/6/03]

DELAY BLOCKED LEGISLATION FOR PARTISAN VENDETTA: In 1999, DeLay received a “private rebuke” for threatening retaliation against the Electronic Industries Association when the trade group named a Democrat to head its Washington operation. To punish the group, DeLay stopped two uncontroversial trade bills that would have benefited the EIA and told the association it would lose all GOP access unless it hired a Republican instead. The group still hired the Democrat, but a little later, the EIA quietly hired a former House Republican staff member who promptly showed up at a fundraiser for DeLay’s ARMPAC. [Texas Observer, 2/4/00; Slate, 12/5/98]

DELAY TOOK SHADY DONATIONS FOR LEGAL DEFENSE FUND: The list of recent donors to DeLay’s legal defense fund includes two lawmakers placed on the House Ethics Committee this year (they replaced conservatives who were purged for being critical of DeLay), and corporations implicated in DeLay’s alleged fundraising violations. Corporate donors include Bacardi U.S.A., the rum maker that has also been indicted in the Texas investigation, and Reliant Energy, “another major contributor to a Texas political action committee formed by Mr. DeLay that is the focus of the criminal inquiry.” In December, DeLay was forced to return funds from registered lobbyists because those contributions violated House ethics rules. [NYT, 3/13/05; Time, 3/13/05]

DELAY LEFT ETHICS BEHIND ON EUROPEAN VACATION: DeLay enjoyed a luxurious vacation at the Four Seasons Hotel in London in mid-2000, paid for by an Indian tribe and a gambling services company, both of which opposed gambling legislation DeLay voted against two months later. The payment was funneled through lobbyist Jack Abramoff, best known for teaming up with right-wing religious fundamentalist Ralph Reed to close down a Texas casino operated by the Tigua Indians in 2002, then persuading the tribe to pay the two of them $4.2 million to lobby Washington lawmakers, including DeLay, to reopen it. According to expense accounts obtained by the Journal, Abramoff financed DeLay and DeLay’s staff’s stay at the Four Seasons hotel to the tune of $4,285.35. The total reimbursement for expenses in London was $13,318.50. [WP, 3/12/05; Raw Story, 2/25/05; WP, 9/29/04]

DELAY LEFT HOUSE RULES BEHIND ON ASIAN VACATION: DeLay accepted an expense-paid trip to South Korea which, in direct violation of House rules, was paid for by a South Korean lobbying group. The Korea-US Exchange Council, a group registered with the Foreign Agents Registration Act, was created with help from DeLay’s former chief of staff. The cost to send DeLay, his wife and three of his lawmaker friends to Seoul for three days was $106,921, the fourth largest cost for any single trip taken by lawmakers between January 2000 and September 2004. [WP, 3/10/05]

DELAY KICKED ETHICS OUT OF HOUSE: DeLay and his allies in the House have sought to cripple the House Ethics Committee. The committee, which rebuked DeLay three times last year, was purged of its most “responsible” members last month and is currently “paralyzed” by a proposed rules change that “would prevent the committee from launching any investigation without the support of at least one Republican–a restriction designed to protect the majority leader.” [WP, 2/5/05; WP, 10/7/04; Time, 3/13/05]

DELAY TRIED TO CHANGE RULES TO PROTECT POWER: DeLay was the driving force behind the decision by House leaders to abandon an 11-year-old party rule that “required leaders to step aside temporarily if indicted.” The idea was dropped only after rank-and-file lawmakers complained “the party was sending the wrong message.” [NYT, 11/18/04; WP, 3/11/05]

Na Na Na,
Na Na Na,
Hey Hey,
Goodbye





Tom DeLay Says He Will Give Up His Seat
The embattled former Republican leader tells TIME that he will leave Congress and not seek reelection

By MIKE ALLEN/SUGAR LAND, TEXAS

Rep. Tom DeLay, whose iron hold on the House Republicans melted as a lobbying corruption scandal engulfed the Capitol, told TIME that he will not seek reelection and will leave Congress within months. Taking defiant swipes at "the left" and the press, he said he feels "liberated" and vowed to pursue an aggressive speaking and organizing campaign aimed at promoting foster care, Republican candidates and a closer connection between religion and government.

"I'm going to announce tomorrow that I'm not running for reelection and that I'm going to leave Congress," DeLay, who turns 59 on Saturday, said during a 90-minute interview on Monday. "I'm very much at peace with it." He notified President Bush in the afternoon. DeLay and his wife, Christine, said they had been prepared to fight, but that he decided last Wednesday, after months of prayer and contemplation, to spare his suburban Houston district the mudfest to come. "This had become a referendum on me," he said. "So it's better for me to step aside and let it be a referendum on ideas, Republican values and what's important for this district."

DeLay's fall has been stunningly swift, one of the most brutal and decisive in American history. He had to give up his title of Majority Leader, the No. 2 spot in the House Republican leadership, in September when a Texas grand jury indicted him on charges of trying to evade the state's election law. So he moved out of his palatial suite in the Capitol, where he once brandished a "No Whining" mug during feisty weekly sessions with reporters, and moved across the street to the Cannon House Office Building, home of many freshmen.

The surprise decision was based on the sort of ruthless calculation that had once given him unchallenged dominance of House Republicans and their wealthy friends in Washington's lobbying community: he realized he might lose in this November's election. DeLay got a scare in a Republican primary last month, and a recent poll taken by his campaign gave him a roughly 50-50 shot of winning, in an election season when Republicans need every seat they can hang onto to avoid a Democratic takeover of the House.

"I'm a realist. I've been around awhile. I can evaluate political situations," DeLay told TIME at his kitchen table in Sugar Land, a former sugar plantation in suburban Houston. Bluebonnets are blooming along the highways. "I feel that I could have won the race. I just felt like I didn't want to risk the seat and that I can do more on the outside of the House than I can on the inside right now. I want to continue to fight for the conservative cause. I want to continue to work for a Republican majority."

Asked if he had done anything illegal or immoral in public office, DeLay replied curtly, "No." Asked if he'd done anything immoral, he said with a laugh, "We're all sinners." Asked what he would do differently, he said, "Nothing." He denied having failed to adequately supervise members of his staff, even though two of his former aides have pleaded guilty to committing crimes while on his staff. "Two people violated my trust over 21 years," he said. "I guarantee you if other offices were under the scrutiny I've been under in the last 10 years, with the Democrat Party announcing that they're going to destroy me, destroy my reputation, and that's how they're going to get rid of me, I guarantee you you're going to find, out of hundreds of people, somebody that's probably done something wrong."

DeLay brushed off the torrent of investigative news articles questioning the funding behind the golf, private planes and resort hotels that marked his travel at home and abroad. He even accepted a plane from R.J. Reynolds Tobacco to go to his arraignment. "There's nothing wrong with it," he said. "They had a plane available. My schedule was such that I couldn't do it commercially — that I had to get up there and then get back and do my job. And that's the only plane that was available at the time."

"You can't prove to me one thing that I have done for my own personal gain," he added. "Yes, I play golf. I'm very proud of the fact that I play golf. It's the only thing that I do for myself. And when you go to a country and you're there for seven days and you take an afternoon off to play golf, what does the national media write? All about the golf, not about the meeting that went to. I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. I've never done anything in my political career for my own personal gain. You can look at my bank account and my house to understand that."

"I don't care what history writes, " he continued. "What I care about, what's important to me is who I am, what I've done and what I can accomplish in the future. What I care about it what I believe in and how I conduct myself in fighting for what I believe in."

Appearing relaxed despite three cups of coffee, DeLay played with his petite dogs and led a leisurely tour of his home. Upstairs, he offered a frame-by-frame description of the photos reflecting his past political clout, such as a private session on the Truman Balcony with the President and First Lady Laura Bush. The first frame marks the beginning of his arc from pest-control entrepreneur to a feared and ingenious power broker. It's the front page from a local paper, the Herald-Coaster, from 1978, proclaiming, "DeLay Is House Winner." That was the Texas House; voters sent him to Washington six years later, starting him on a 21-year congressional career. During the tour, he gave an indication of his early deftness at the political game when he showed off a picture of his wife, Christine, and their daughter, Danielle, with President Ronald Reagan. "I had to withhold my vote," he said, "to get my daughter's picture with Ronald Reagan as a freshman." His wife, a formidable daily force in his office with a voice in nearly all scheduling and media decisions, pointed to a photo of former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, and noted, "That's when we thought she was going to be conservative."

Putting the best face on the poll taken by his campaign, DeLay said it gave him "a little bit better than a 50/50 chance of winning reelection." Asked if that didn't mean that he could lose, he replied, "Could have. There's no reason to risk a seat. This is a very strong Republican district. It's obvious to me that anybody but me running here will overwhelmingly win the seat."

DeLay said he is likely to leave by the end of May, depending on the Congressional schedule and finishing his work on a couple of issues. He said he will change his legal residence to his condominium in Alexandria, Va., from his modest two-story home on a golf course here in the 22nd District of Texas. "I become ineligible to run for election if I'm not a resident of the state of Texas," he said, turning election law to his purposes for perhaps on last time. State Republican officials will then be able to name another Republican candidate to face Democrat Nick Lampson, a former House members who lost his seat in a redistricting engineered by DeLay.

Lampson has made a major issue of the lobbying scandal, and his campaign home page has a petition headed, "Tell Tom DeLay to Return the Dirty Money!," referring to contributions from he and his political action committees have received from disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a one-time DeLay ally who pleaded guilty in January to three felonies, including conspiring to defraud clients and bribe public officials.

DeLay's decision means that he no longer has to fear any further sanctions from the House ethics committee, which admonished him three times in 1994 for official conduct deemed inappropriate by members, but has been paralyzed for more than a year and has taken no action in the more recent scandal. Sources close to DeLay said he remains under investigation by the Justice Department prosecutors, who now have Abramoff's cooperation, but the lawmaker said he has nothing to fear from the feds. "I paid lawyers to investigate me as if they were prosecuting me," he said. "They found nothing. There is absolutely nothing — no connection with Jack Abramoff that is illegal, dishonest, unethical or against the House rules."

Richard Cullen, a former U.S. attorney who is DeLay's Washington lawyer, told TIME that in December, the lawmaker's legal team turned over to the Justice Department about 1,000 e-mails from his office computers. "This was to show we had nothing to hide," Cullen said. "They were everything we felt related to the Abramoff investigation. None are from DeLay. They're from staffers, showing their give and take with Abramoff. There was nothing that I said to myself or DeLay, wow, this is really bad for him. Prosecutors are looking to see whether anyone on the government payroll, whether a congressman or a staffer, performed official acts in return for a bribe or gratuity."

A Texas district attorney, Ronnie Earle of Travis County, indicted DeLay last year on money-laundering charges for transactions involving Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC), a political action committee DeLay founded. Earle is a Democrat and DeLay has attacked the charges as "a political hit job." He says he did not personally carry out the transactions and that, in any case, they are standard practice for parties around the country. Regardless, DeLay was forced to vacate his post as majority leader because of a House Republican rule (known as "the DeLay rule," because it was enacted amid concern about his legal situation) that requires a leader under indictment to step down.

DeLay, a Baptist born in the border city of Laredo, said he "spent a lot of time" praying about his decision and that his personal relationship with Jesus drives his day-to-day actions. "My faith is who I am," he said. When DeLay was booked on the Texas charges, he wore his Congressional I.D. pin and flashed a broad smile designed to thwart Democrats who had hoped to make wide use of an image of a glowering DeLay. "I said a little prayer before I actually did the fingerprint thing, and the picture," he said. "My prayer was basically: 'Let people see Christ through me. And let me smile.' Now, when they took the shot, from my side, I thought it was fakiest smile I'd ever given. But through the camera, it was glowing. I mean, it had the right impact. Poor old left couldn't use it at all."

Recently, he said, he has been hearing from many people who want his help on projects outside Congress. He said his decision was cemented by the thunderous response at a conference in Washington last Wednesday decrying the "War on Christianity."

"You talk to a lot of people, give a lot of people opportunities to give you message," DeLay said. "If it's the wrong decision, doors don't open — they're closed to you, and you don't feel good about it, and you have doubts. Doors are opening already." He said he has no plans to write a book. "I'm not a very good writer, " he said. In what must be a relief to his many lawyers, he said he has not kept a diary.

Ex-DeLay Aide Reportedly to Plead Guilty

3/31/2006

WASHINGTON - Tony Rudy, a former top aide to Rep. Tom DeLay, has agreed to plead guilty to charges in the widening federal investigation of lobbyist fraud, a law enforcement official said Friday.

A hearing was scheduled Friday in U.S. District Court in Washington, where Rudy was expected to enter his plea.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal has not yet been filed with the court.

Rudy would be the first person to plead guilty to charges in the case since Jack Abramoff, once a leading GOP lobbyist, pleaded guilty to fraud charges in January.

Rudy was referred to in court papers released in connection with Abramoff's plea. The documents referred to Rudy as Staffer A, and said that Abramoff, on behalf of clients who wanted to stop Internet gambling and postal rate legislation, paid $50,000 in 10 equal monthly payments beginning in June 2000 to Rudy's wife while Rudy was a top aide to DeLay.

DeLay wants concealed handgun permit back
Gun license was suspended after ex-majority leader's indictment last year

Updated: 5:18 a.m. ET March 28, 2006

RICHMOND, Texas - Rep. Tom DeLay is fighting to regain his concealed handgun permit after it was suspended because of his indictment on felony charges.

A justice of the peace suspended DeLay’s license in January after the former majority leader was indicted last year. A judge dismissed a conspiracy charge, but DeLay still faces a felony charge of money laundering.

Under state law, the Texas Department of Public Safety can suspend a handgun license if its holder has been charged with certain misdemeanors or higher.

DeLay, a vocal gun rights proponent, has appealed the suspension and has asked for a new hearing after missing a Jan. 26 court date.

“Without objection, they (the Department of Public Safety) presented a copy of an indictment,” Justice of the Peace Jim Richard said. “And that was about it for the case.”

Steve Brittain, one of DeLay’s Austin attorneys, filed the appeal March 14. A hearing date has not been set.

Steve Moninger, an attorney for the Department of Public Safety, which administers the handgun licensing law, said the state will contest the appeal.

“We are going to keep going. Our function is to enforce the statute,” Moninger said.

Brittain did not return telephone messages left Monday.

DeLay spokeswoman Shannon Flaherty said neither Brittain nor DeLay was able to make the original court hearing.

Flaherty would not say whether DeLay needs a handgun permit. In a written statement, she said, “As for whether or not he carries it — that’s the point of having a CHL (concealed handgun license) in Texas, potential criminals should assume everyone is.”

The indictment cost DeLay his leadership post. He won his Republican primary election earlier this month and faces former Democratic Rep. Nick Lampson in the Nov. 7 general election.

DeLay aide got thousands from non-profit

The Washington Post
Published March 26, 2006

WASHINGTON -- A top adviser to Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) received nearly a third of all the money collected by the U.S. Family Network, a non-profit organization the adviser created to promote a pro-family agenda in Congress, according to the group's accounting records.

DeLay's former chief of staff, Edwin Buckham, who helped create the group while still in DeLay's employ, and his wife were the principal beneficiaries of the group's $3.23 million in revenues, collecting payments totaling $996,754 during a five-year period ending in 2001, public and private records show.



The group's revenue was drawn mostly from clients of Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according to its records. An FBI subpoena for the records appears to indicate the bureau is exploring whether the payments were linked to favorable legislative treatment of Abramoff's clients by DeLay's office.

In recent months, Abramoff pleaded guilty to charges of tax fraud and conspiracy; DeLay has stepped down from his post as House majority leader; and Buckham has folded his lobbying firm.

Some DeLay Charges May Be Reinstated

March 24, 2006
By APRIL CASTRO Associated Press Writer
© 2006 The Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas — Prosecutors will try to persuade a Texas appeals court Wednesday to reinstate some of the criminal charges against Rep. Tom DeLay, who is trying to win re-election to Congress while under indictment.

In December, a judge threw out some of the conspiracy and money laundering charges against the former House majority leader, saying the conspiracy law DeLay allegedly violated did not exist at the time.

Prosecutors say that it did. Both sides will argue their cases before the Texas 3rd Court of Appeals.

DeLay, who will not attend the hearing, said charges shouldn't be restored and blamed the case on politics. He also said he's frustrated with the proceedings.

"It's been almost 120 days that this frivolous appeal has been before the 3rd Circuit," DeLay said Tuesday in Houston. "I would hope that they would come to a speedy resolution on a matter that would, I think, take a first-year law student an hour to make a ruling on."

Because of the dispute, no trial date has been set.

DeLay is accused of funneling illegal corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas House. The Republicans went on to win control of the Legislature in 2002 and pushed through a DeLay-engineered redistricting plan that helped Texas send more Republicans to Congress in 2004.

Richard Murray, director of the Center for Public Policy at the University of Houston, said the prosecutors' appeal serves to "drag this case out and the congressman really doesn't need that."

"Tom DeLay needs this case to move forward to a favorable resolution before November," Murray said. "Every time he's mentioned in the press, it's 'indicted, indicted, indicted' and that's corrosive."

DeLay faces Democratic former Rep. Nick Lampson in November, in what could be the congressman's most serious challenge since voters in his Houston-area district sent him to Capitol Hill in 1984.

Lampson was defeated for re-election to the House two years ago following the redrawing of the congressional map. That map is now at the center of a U.S. Supreme Court case over whether it was created in an overly partisan way.

Lampson campaign manager Mike Malaise said the hearing Wednesday points again to "all the ethical problems surrounding Tom DeLay."

"This one just kind of adds to the overall picture of Tom DeLay as someone who's been doing for himself in Washington rather than doing for the people of southeast Texas," he said.

Texas holds best ‘secret election’ money can buy

Author: Paul Hill and Jim Lane
People's Weekly World Newspaper, 03/16/06 15:20

HOUSTON — Texas held its March 7 primary election in virtual secrecy. Only 5.3 percent of the electorate voted in the Republican primary and 4.1 percent in the Democratic primary.

Pundits marveled over how much money was spent on so few voters. There was virtually no mainstream media coverage before the election other than political ads featuring Tom DeLay’s grinning face. Most people on the street, when asked about the election, were surprised to hear there was one.

Indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) won the Republican nomination with 62 percent, down from over 80 percent in the 2004 primary. Democrats relish the coming match-up between DeLay — mired in corruption and a record of consistently fighting for the interests of the wealthy — and labor-backed Nick Lampson, who has a record of fighting for working people.

It appears many Democrats may have voted for DeLay. Some observers speculate that without a significant crossover vote, DeLay would have faced a primary runoff. In 2004 about 16,000 votes were cast in the Republican primary in DeLay’s district and over 10,000 in the Democratic primary. This time over 33,000 voted in the Republican primary and just over 2,000 in the Democratic primary, with DeLay getting over 20,000 votes. In Texas it is legal to cross over to the opposing party from one primary to the next.

In any case, the primary was costly for DeLay in time and energy, while Lampson is well funded, rested and has a bone to pick as a victim of DeLay’s notorious redistricting scheme. Lampson is campaigning on supporting working families over multinational corporations, and has strongly opposed tax breaks for corporations that ship jobs overseas.

In 16 contested state races that drew AFL-CIO COPE endorsements, nine of the labor-backed candidates won. Three more are hoping to win runoff elections on April 11.

The most disappointing race for progressives was the Democratic primary contest between Henry Cuellar and Ciro Rodriguez in San Antonio. Cuellar, who narrowly avoided a runoff with Rodriguez, will run unopposed in November. Rodriguez had strong support from labor, but Cuellar got the first-ever endorsement of a Democrat by the right-wing Republican Club for Growth, a free-market advocacy group with over 34,000 members.

Cuellar has repeatedly enraged Democrats by his collaborative relationship with Republicans. He supported George Bush in 2000, although he backed Kerry in 2004. Cuellar supported CAFTA and is viewed as pro-globalization, but voted for labor issues nine out of 16 times.

In a highly unusual move, 15 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives contributed to Rodriguez. Many suspect that Republicans redrew the district to benefit Cuellar, who served as secretary of state under Bush’s successor, Republican Gov. Rick Perry.

In one display of Texas extravagance (and megalomania), school voucher zealot billionaire Dr. James Leininger of San Antonio spent $3 million targeting Republican representatives who had voted against tax-paid private school vouchers. It appears Leininger’s candidates won two out of five races.

One incumbent, Carter Casteel, lost her bid for re-election by 44 votes. Though Casteel raised nearly $400,000 for her campaign, Leininger spent $800,000 on her opponent, hiring professionals who ran slick attack-ad campaigns filled with distorted information.

Casteel, who has decided to ask for a recount, said after initially conceding, “What this means is that no representative can take an independent vote because someone with money might take issue with it. … I want to make sure a schoolteacher’s $10 donation means as much as the millions someone else has to spend. Let me tell you, the Republican Party is in trouble. And we’ve got to do what we can to save it.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Carlos Uresti defeated Sen. Frank Medla in a Democratic primary in San Antonio Senate District 19. Uresti pounded Medla on his voting record, which supported privatization and cuts in benefits to the working poor. Uresti is recognized as a champion of a social services system to help the working poor and those with mental illness and mental retardation.

Progressives in Texas are anxiously awaiting the outcome of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on Tom DeLay’s congressional redistricting shenanigans. The ruling is expected before July 1 and could result in boosting progressives in the November election.

Prosecutors seek new data in DeLay case

Associated Press

AUSTIN - Prosecutors pursuing conspiracy and money laundering charges against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Wednesday sought campaign finance documents from a decade-old congressional campaign in East Texas.

The subpoena requests documents that name contributions from businessman Peter F. Cloeren, who pleaded guilty to directing illegal corporate money into Republican Brian Babin's 1996 campaign for Congress.

In an affidavit signed in 1998, Cloeren said DeLay urged him to evade campaign finance laws and funnel more money than legally allowed into the Babin campaign. DeLay denied the accusation.

DeLay, a Sugar Land Republican, is awaiting trial on conspiracy and money laundering charges and denies those charges as well.

The state judge presiding over the case has said he will not enforce the subpoenas while the case is on appeal.

"The reality is, Jack Abramoff and I were not close personal friends. I met with him only occasionally…"- Tom Delay 2/6/2006

CONTRIBUTIONS — DELAY RECEIVED $65,000 FROM ABRAMOFF: “Since 1997, Abramoff and his wife have contributed $40,000 to DeLay’s political action committees, and last year the Capital Athletic Foundation [Abramoff’s bogus charity] donated $25,000 to the DeLay Foundation for Kids, a charity the lawmaker founded. Abramoff has long been a member of DeLay’s Congressional Council, which DeLay describes in promotional materials as a ’special group of supporters.” In January 2006, DeLay pledged to donate $57,000 of the contributions to charity. [Washington Post, 9/28/04; Washington Post, 1/5/06]

GIFTS — DELAY ACCEPTED EXPENSIVE GIFTS FROM ABRAMOFF: “DeLay was Abramoff’s guest at skyboxes Abramoff maintained at MCI Center and the Redskins’ FedEx Field, and his staff members were flown to a Super Bowl game in Florida and to the U.S. Open in Pebble Beach, Calif.” [Washington Post, 9/30/05]

CRONYISM — ABRAMOFF HELPED RUDY OBTAIN HIGH-POWERED LOBBYING JOB: Tony Rudy, former deputy chief of staff to DeLay, left the congressional office in 2001 for a lucrative lobbying position obtained with the help of Abramoff. E-mails between Rudy and Abramoff reveal that Rudy “was in close contact with a future employer [Abramoff] about issues in which the employer had an interest.” Federal prosecutors “are examining whether he [Abramoff] brokered lucrative jobs for Congressional aides at powerful lobbying firms in exchange for legislative favors.” Rudy is now at the Alexander Strategy Group, run by Buckham, another former DeLay aide. [Business Week, 7/11/05; New York Times, 12/2/05]

COUSHATTA CAMPAIGN — DELAY ORGANIZED HASTERT, BLUNT, AND CANTOR TO BACK ABRAMOFF EFFORT: One of Abramoff’s tribal clients, the Coushattas, “opposed a plan by the Jena Band of Choctaw Indians to open a casino at a non-reservation site, expected at the time to be outside Shreveport, La., not far from a casino owned by the Coushattas.” Abramoff lobbied DeLay’s office to organize a June 10, 2003, letter to Interior Secretary Gale A. Norton endorsing a view of gambling law benefiting the Coushattas. The letter was eventually co-signed by DeLay, House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Majority Whip Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Deputy Whip Eric I. Cantor (R-VA), a “group of people, who do not normally weigh in on Indian issues.” [Washington Post, 9/28/04]

SUNCRUZ — BURNS AND DELAY STAFFERS ACCEPTED SUPER BOWL TRIP FROM ABRAMOFF, SUNCRUZ: Two Burns staff members “traveled to the 2001 Super Bowl on the Abramoff corporate jet, along with several staffers from the office of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Tex.).” The trip was funded by Abramoff-owned SunCruz, a Florida casino cruise line, and “staffers were taken out to a Suncruz gambling ship during the trip.” [Washington Post, 3/1/05]

MARIANA ISLANDS — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO SAIPAN: Abramoff “arranged a lavish overseas trip to the island of Saipan for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, over the New Year’s holiday in 1997. DeLay, his wife and daughter, and several aides, stayed for free at a beachfront resort.” The trip “was part of an effort by former aide Jack Abramoff to stop legislation aimed at cracking down on sweatshops and sex shops in the American territory, which is known as the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.” Abramoff was paid $1.36 million by Saipan officials. On that trip, DeLay promised a prominent factory owner that he would use his position to stop the reform laws: “[I]f they elect me majority whip, I make the schedule of the Congress, and I’m not going to put it on the schedule.” [ABC, 4/6/05]

TRIP (RUSSIA, 1997) — DELAY AND BUCKHAM ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO RUSSIA: Abramoff also set up a legally questionable six-day trip to Moscow for DeLay in 1997, arranged by “Ed Buckham, a lobbyist and former DeLay staffer and spiritual advisor, who also traveled with DeLay to Russia.” Abramoff eventually joined them in Moscow. The $57,000 trip was “underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government” and allegedly paid for by a DC non-profit, the National Center for Public Policy Research. But sources involved in planning the trip revealed that an Abramoff client, Chelsea Commercial Enterprises, which was registered in the Bahamas and deeply involved with Russian oil executives, actually paid for the trip. “House ethics rules bar the acceptance of travel reimbursement from registered lobbyists and foreign agents.” [Washington Post, 4/6/05]

TRIP (SCOTLAND, 2000) — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO LONDON AND SCOTLAND: In 2000, Abramoff arranged another trip for DeLay, his wife, and several congressional staff members, allegedly through the nonprofit National Center for Public Policy Research, as in the Russia trip. But DeLay’s airfare to London and Scotland was charged to Abramoff’s American Express card. While in Europe, the guests played golf at St. Andrews and attended the musical The Lion King. “House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists.” “Multiple sources, including DeLay’s then-chief of staff Susan Hirschmann, have confirmed that DeLay’s congressional office was in direct contact with Preston Gates [Abramoff’s lobbying firm] about the trip itinerary before DeLay’s departure, to work out details of his travel.” [Washington Post, 4/24/05; New York Times, 4/25/05]

TRIP (KOREA, 2001) — DELAY ACCEPTED ABRAMOFF TRIP TO KOREA: In 2001, DeLay, his wife, and staff, including Buckham, took a “$106,921 educational and golfing trip…to Korea on the tab of a registered foreign agent — a violation of House rules.” Similar to the arrangement in the Russia trip, the funding “was funneled through a Washington tax-exempt group and the trip arranged by longtime DeLay associate Jack Abramoff.” [Salon, 4/8/05]

"I don't know him," Bush said.

Abramoff Interview: Lobbyist Details Relationship With Bush, DeLay, Burns

Vanity Fair is set to publish an in-depth interview with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff sheds new light on his close relationships with top conservatives, including some not typically associated with the Abramoff scandals like Ken Mehlman and Newt Gingrich. Some choice quotes:

On President Bush:

President Bush, who claims not to remember having his picture taken with Abramoff. According to Abramoff, at one time, the president joked with Abramoff about his weight lifting past: “What are you benching, buff guy?”

On former Rove deputy Ken Mehlman:

According to documents obtained by Vanity Fair, Mehlman exchanged e-mail with Abramoff, and did him political favors (such as preventing Clinton administration alumnus Allen Stayman from keeping a State Department job), had Sabbath dinner at Abramoff’s house, and offered to pick up Abramoff’s tab at Signatures, Abramoff’s own restaurant.

On Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX):



Abramoff has “admired Tom DeLay and his family from the first meeting with him,” he tells Margolick. “We would sit and talk about the Bible. We would sit and talk about opera. We would sit and talk about golf,” Abramoff recalls. “I mean, we talked about philosophy and politics.”

On Newt Gingrich:

Newt Gingrich, whose spokesman Rick Tyler tells Margolick that “Before [Abramoff’s] picture appeared on TV and in the newspapers, Newt wouldn’t have known him if he fell across him. He hadn’t seen him in 10 years.” A rankled Abramoff says “I have more pictures of [Newt] than I have of my wife.”

On Sen. Conrad Burns (R-MT):

Abramoff says: “Every appropriation we wanted [from Burns’s committee] we got. Our staffs were as close as they could be. They practically used Signatures as their cafeteria. I mean, it’s a little difficult for him to run from that record.”

Despite the magnitude of his crimes, however, Abramoff says that imprisoning him would only deprive society of his teaching and/or janitorial talents:

Abramoff … tells [Vanity Fair] that sending him to prison is “stupid,” saying, “Let me teach English, history, music. Or let me sweep floors at the reservation. Instead you’ll be paying to feed me to sit in a jail.”

Lobbyist's Credit Card Bill Outs DeLay Trip
Delay's Trip to Golf Resort Paid for by Abramoff

ABC News

March 2, 2006 — - The paper trail seems so obvious it makes you wonder whether anyone ever worried about getting caught. When Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, and his wife flew from Houston to a golf resort in Scotland in June 2000, the first-class airfare cost $14,001, a big-ticket item for a public servant. But someone else paid.

The American Express bills of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who pleaded guilty to fraud charges in January, show he footed the bill for the tickets, in an apparent violation of House ethics rules.

"The source of the travel expenses may not be ... a registered lobbyist," according to the House rules. Abramoff was a registered lobbyist at the time.

DeLay's attorney told The Washington Post last year that DeLay was unaware of the "logistics" of bill payments and did not believe Abramoff paid for the tickets.

"This is a classic example of why the ethics rules have to be reformed," said Fred Wertheimer of Democracy 21, a nonprofit watchdog group. "The Scotland trip was a trip to play golf, pure and simple, and private interests should not be allowed to finance those kinds of trips and gain influence with members in return."

Abramoff pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy, honest-services mail fraud and tax evasion. Officials said Abramoff had brought corruption to a new level at the Capitol.

"The corruption scheme with Mr. Abramoff was very extensive, and the investigation continues," said Alice Fisher, the head of the Department of Justice's criminal division.

One aspect of Abramoff's corruption scheme was the free trips he provided to politicians to the Super Bowl, a golf resort in Scotland and to the northern Mariana Islands in the South Pacific.

An ABC News hidden camera recorded Abramoff greeting and hugging DeLay as he arrived in the northern Marianas.

DeLay, the former House majority leader, was only one congressman out of dozens who accepted the lobbyist's trips and campaign contributions.

"There are many members of Congress who will not sleep well tonight," said Wertheimer at the time of the investigation. "This is a blockbuster of an investigation that will reach deep inside the power structure."

Federal authorities told ABC News that Abramoff began providing details of his dealings with DeLay and pinpointing a long list of senators and representatives more than a year ago.

At least nine have since returned Abramoff's campaign contributions, and all, including DeLay, have denied any wrongdoing.

Officials told ABC News that the first congressman to be indicted for bribery is expected to be Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio.

ABC News' Gina Sunseri contributed to this report

The Texas Gerrymander

March 1, 2006
NYTimes Editorial

The redrawing of election districts in Texas in 2003, which Tom DeLay helped engineer to make the state's Congressional delegation more Republican, lands in the Supreme Court today. Democrats are asking the court to rule that the plan is unconstitutional and violates the Voting Rights Act. The court should strike down the plan. It should also use the case to set limits on this kind of politically motivated drawing of districts by both parties, a practice that is making voters increasingly irrelevant.

Texas's 2003 redistricting was an extreme case of partisan gerrymandering. The state's Congressional lines had already been redrawn once, after the 2000 census, producing additional Republican seats in a way that a federal court decided was fair. But when Republicans took control of the state government, they decided to do a highly unusual second redistricting. Democratic state legislators protested and fled the state to deny the Republicans a quorum. But Texas eventually adopted a plan that tilted the state's delegation even further in the Republicans' favor.

The Supreme Court has acknowledged that partisan gerrymandering can violate the Constitution, but it has had trouble setting out a workable standard. In a Pennsylvania case two years ago, Justice Anthony Kennedy cast the deciding vote to dismiss a gerrymandering claim, but he suggested that courts could intervene in such cases "if some limited and precise rationale" could be found for doing so. In the Texas case, Democrats put forward such a standard: that "the Constitution prohibits legislators from redrawing election districts in the middle of a decade solely to achieve partisan advantage."

The Texas plan should be struck down on that ground, and because it violates the principle of one person one vote. More than a million people were added to the Texas population between the census and the 2003 redistricting. These new arrivals were not distributed equally, and it is likely that they were disproportionately Hispanic. The state used outdated 2000 population data to draw the 2003 lines, producing districts that failed to give all of the state's voters equal representation in Congress.

The Texas voters challenging the plan also make a strong claim that it violates the Voting Rights Act. The Justice Department signed off on the plan, but in doing so, as The Washington Post reported, its political appointees overruled the unanimous conclusion of six lawyers and two analysts in the voting rights section who had concluded that the new lines illegally reduced black and Hispanic voting strength.

Partisan gerrymandering should be a bipartisan issue because both parties have been hurt by it and no doubt will be again. Its real victims, though, are the voters.

Nationally, the lines drawn for 2002 produced the least competitive Congressional elections in history — challengers beat just four incumbents, and fewer than 40 races were even minimally competitive. If the Supreme Court permits those drawing legislative lines to use high-powered computers to create district lines that predetermine the outcomes of all but a handful of Congressional races, America may need to come up with another word for its form of government, because "democracy" will hardly apply.

Texas-size gerrymander case heads to high court

By Naftali Bendavid
Washington Bureau
Published February 27, 2006

WASHINGTON -- It was among the more audacious political moves in memory: The state of Texas, prodded by Rep. Tom DeLay, redrew its political map in 2003 to send more Republicans to Congress, the first such "mid-decade" redistricting in the modern era.

The maneuver could hardly have been more successful. Six more Republicans were elected in 2004, making the Democrats' attempt to retake the House of Representatives this year all the more difficult. But there were negative consequences, too: DeLay has been indicted, admonished by the House ethics committee, forced to step down as majority leader and confronted with the prospect of losing his seat--all because of actions related to the redistricting.

Now the Supreme Court is preparing to deliver the final word on Texas' action. In a special two-hour session Wednesday, the court will consider whether Texas impermissibly redistricted for solely partisan reasons and whether it illegally dismantled black and Latino districts. A ruling is expected later this year.

The fight is unfolding against the backdrop of dramatically fewer competitive House races across the country. And the events in Texas seem to reflect a political culture that is becoming more partisan and polarized.

"The wrinkle in this is that there had not been a mid-decade redistricting in at least 100 years," said former Rep. Martin Frost, one of the Texas Democrats who lost his seat. "The Republicans were stretching the envelope. They were trying to do this on the theory that they could get away with it, and we'll find out if they can get away with it."

After a federal court drew Texas' congressional map following the 2000 census, 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans were sent to the U.S. House, even though the state's voters were close to 60 percent Republican. That frustrated DeLay, who used a well-funded political operation to help Republicans take over the Legislature, which set about drawing a more GOP-friendly map.

The result was a political circus. Democratic lawmakers fled the state to prevent a quorum, as Gov. Rick Perry, a Republican, convened three special sessions to enact the plan. One Democrat finally relented, enabling the Legislature to push through the redistricting, and in 2004 Texas sent 21 Republicans and 11 Democrats to the U.S. House, a swing of six seats.

"This whole case from start to finish has about as many twists as the Harry Potter novels," said Tim Storey, a redistricting expert at the National Conference of State Legislatures. "It has wound through the courts. It has all these side stories to it. It's probably the most notorious or high-profile redistricting saga since Elbridge Gerry and the first gerrymander."

Democrats sued to get the map thrown out, saying it was improper to undertake a redistricting just to help one party.

In a 2004 case from Pennsylvania, the Supreme Court concluded it was impossible to determine when an ordinary post-census redistricting was "too" partisan. But in this case, Texas already had a court-drawn map, Democrats said, and redrew it solely to elect more Republicans.

"It's an outrage . . . in terms of an improper use of political power," said Matthew Angle, Frost's former chief of staff.

Texas officials responded that the court's map strongly favored Democrats and that their new map better reflects the will of the state's voters.

"The elected state Legislature in Texas acted to adopt a map that reflects the demonstrated preferences of Texas voters at the polls," said Texas Solicitor General R. Ted Cruz, who is to argue the case before the Supreme Court.

Minority activists also are seeking to block the new map. Some of them say Frost's old district, which was dismantled, was controlled by African-American voters, who made up 64 percent of Democratic primary voters. State officials say the district was anything but black-controlled, with African-Americans being just 21 percent of all voters in that district.

Hispanic activists, meanwhile, are angered by the fate of a district represented by Rep. Henry Bonilla, a Republican opposed by most Hispanics in his district. Bonilla was about to be defeated, the activists say, until the Legislature scooped about 100,000 Hispanic voters out of his district and replaced them with rural white voters.

"This is a straightforward case of vote dilution intended to thwart the political strength of minority voters as they were on the brink of electing their candidate of choice," said a brief filed by GI Forum of Texas, a Hispanic veterans' group.

Texas officials counter that because Bonilla was elected before and after the redistricting, it's hard to argue the district was altered in a significant way.

"He was winning comfortably in the old lines, and he's winning comfortably in the new lines," said Jeff Fisher, executive director of the Texas Republican Party.

Overall, the two sides present not just colliding legal arguments but entirely different pictures of recent history. Democrats describe a naked, illegal power grab by DeLay and the Republicans, and Republicans say Democrats for too long blocked Texans from getting true representation.

The episode has become part of the larger national debate over politics and corruption, in which DeLay is a central figure. After the Texas redistricting, the House ethics committee chastised DeLay for using the Federal Aviation Administration to track down the Democratic lawmakers when they fled. Then DeLay was indicted for alleged campaign finance violations related to his push to elect more Republicans to the Legislature, which set the stage for the redistricting.

A lower court has upheld the new Texas map. Should the Supreme Court agree, it would encourage other legislatures to redistrict whenever a party seizes the upper hand, said Paul Smith of the Chicago-based law firm Jenner & Block, who is arguing the case for the Democrats.

"If we are to lose this case, we will have a profoundly anti-democratic result," Smith said.

Few are willing to predict which way the court will go.

"It's a big wild card," said Storey, of the National Conference of State Legislatures. "The wise answer is that it will be some kind of a close decision that can break either way and will be pretty narrowly tailored to deal with the Texas episode. I think you flip a coin."