DeLay press release on Travis County indictment
by Owen Courrèges · 09/28/2005 1:45 pmThis mirrors what we’ve been saying:
These charges have no basis in the facts or the law. This is just another example of Ronnie Earle misusing his office for partisan vendettas. Despite the clearly political agenda of this prosecutor, Congressman DeLay has cooperated with officials throughout the entire process. Even in the last two weeks, Ronnie Earle himself had acknowledged publicly that Mr. DeLay was not a target of his investigation. However, as with many of Ronnie Earle’s previous partisan investigations, Ronnie Earle refused to let the facts or the law get in the way of his partisan desire to indict a political foe.This purely political investigation has been marked by illegal grand jury leaks, a fundraising speech by Ronnie Earle for Texas Democrats that inappropriately focused on the investigation, misuse of his office for partisan purposes, and extortion of money for Earle’s pet projects from corporations in exchange for dismissing indictments he brought against them. Ronnie Earle’s previous misuse of his office has resulted in failed prosecutions and we trust his partisan grandstanding will strike out again, as it should.
Ronnie Earle’s 1994 indictment against Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was quickly dismissed and his charges in the 1980s against former Attorney General Jim Mattox-another political foe of Earle-fell apart at trial.
We regret the people of Texas will once again have their taxpayer dollars wasted on Ronnie Earle’s pursuit of headlines and political paybacks. Ronnie Earle began this investigation in 2002, after the Democrat Party lost the Texas state legislature to Republicans. For three years and through numerous grand juries, Ronnie Earle has tried to manufacture charges against Republicans involved in winning those elections using arcane statutes never before utilized in a case in the state. This indictment is nothing more than prosecutorial retribution by a partisan Democrat."
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Try getting your facts straight. Earle has prosecuted 15 officals, 12 Democrats and 3 Republicans. Why in the world would you try to defend Mr. Delay, wait, cuz you are an idiot.
Or it could be “cuz” he is presumed innocent until proven to the contrary.
Just remember, Tom DeLay being the target of your hatred does not make him a lawbreaker…
Feagan,
Ronnie Earle has been in office since 1976. For most of his career, there were scarcely any Republican officeholders in the state. Of course he’s indicted more Democrats over the years. “Over the years” Texas was largely a one-party state, with partisanship relegated to intra-party infighting.
Earle’s more recent major prosecutions have been against high-profile Republicans (DeLay and Huchinson) and they lack substance. Recall that he was compelled to drop his indictment against Hutchinson, which included baseless allegations of assault. Also, read the DeLay indictment, and tell me exactly where it provides a since fact showing wrongdoing by DeLay — just one overt act.
I’m sorry, Feagan, but repeating Earle’s own lame defenses won’t save him.
you guys are too funny. I guess those ethics violations were part of the party hatred as well. If it walks like scum, talks like scum, its probably scum.
you guys are too funny. I guess those ethics violations were part of the party hatred as well. If it walks like scum, talks like scum, its probably scum.
I am Not a lawyer, so I will leave the indictment to those that are, or the jury that actually heard the testimony. I know you are an esteemed lawyer or lawyer wannabe, but I will trust those with just a little more experience than you to educate me on the law.
Please Mike, Owen, Jim all of you keep defending him. Pat Buchanan has already said he will be tossed over as soon as the republican party can find a way to do it. Then you will get new talking points and you will repeat them like good little soldiers. Delay is done. I just hope he sticks around long enough to drag more scum down with him.
You think WE’RE spouting talking points?
That’s a good one…
Feagan,
I can’t answer for the others you mentioned, but I have no aspirations towards being a lawyer. I look at the available facts from a lay perspective and form my opinion like the rest of us. And again, I’m not defending anyone, I just have a problem with tax money being used to pursue a case which is far from ironclad.
BTW — I really don’t consider myself a republican.
Yeah, when I think of “spokesman for the Republican Party,” Pat freakin’ Buchanan is the first guy that jumps to mind.
Mike were you so concerned when Ken Starr spent your tax dollars going after Clinton.
Simple yes or no.
Please tell me what facts you have looked at. Besides Lone Star Times.
Not simple yes or no. Yes, I’m always concerned about tax dollars being spent. However, many facts came to light during the whole investigation which were quite damning to the credibility of the highest office in the United States. That being said, do you expect Earle’s investigation to produce similar results? I don’t.
I’m not privy to any more facts than you are, I simply see what is presented in the mainstream media as well as LST, and try to read between the lines where necessary.
Mike just as expected. Well you did not disappoint.
But please, which facts came out that were quite damning. Clinton had sex with an intern. Just like so many other good Republican leaders. No need to list them here (livingston, hyde, ……)
What mis deeds did Starr uncover concerning the Whitewater investigation. Or what mis deeds did Starr uncover in File gate, anything please anything. No big deal it was only 50 million dollars of your tax money. By the way, do you pay taxes in Travis county. No ? then no worries. Its not your taxes.
It is actually pretty easy to file false charges against someone. Sometimes it is just to get them to take their eye off the ball and cost them a lot of money. When Delay is proven innocent will Ronnie Earle pay back his attorney fees. I think not. Earle has misused his office for years against both parties. Austin is an island of moonbats in a sea of common sense. This is just the latest non story that will go away.
One republican PRESIDENT who perjured himself about the fact of having sex with an intern? Legally, you’re right about whitewater. Not much was proven through the whole investigation. That wasn’t my point.
Like I said, I’m not defending anybody. You have posted on LST with a long series of ad hominem attacks against anyone who disagrees with you. You’ve accused all of us of spewing the republican line when you really don’t know if we even are republicans. Many of us are conservatives who are quite dissatisfied with the direction the republican party is going in. That doesn’t mean we believe that democrats are better, nor does it mean that we are mindless robots who like to let politicians do our thinking for us. Get a grip on the mindset of your opponent before you start name-calling. Your last post was at least an improvement in that regard.
Mike, you said not much was proven through the whole investigation. What was proven. NOTHING.
What are you dissatisfied with exactly, and why do you defend the administration ? If you are truly conservative. Why not stand up and say so. Stand up and fight for your values. Fight against the corruption that is rampant in your party.
Why not demand a controled spending. A balanced budget any number of “Conservative” values. I hear nothing from those who claim to be conservative.
No.6
Funny is one thing you are not. Nor are you convincing. After reading you attempts to state facts and then offer opinion to support them reveals that you are nothing more paper tiger.
Your attempts to stir the pot is similar to the law of even dispersal; When the poop hits the fan it get on everybody. Give yourself the smell test.
rj
Feagan,
What many conservatives are dissatisfied with is illegal immigration. We spend big bucks to create a homeland security department and then leave a gaping hole in our southern border. I do not defend the administration in the least on this.
I also have a big problem with the big government attitude. I do not look to government to solve my problems for me, which is why I think shrinking the federal government and privatizing many aspects therein is a good idea.
Do I think Democrats will do any better on these issues? I think not.
We can demand until we are blue in the face, but the only real power we have is to vote, and I have zero desire to enter politics myself.
We conservatives, in turn, hear nothing from democrats to woo us away from our current beliefs.
I would LOVE to see controlled spending and a balanced budget from the Republicans. Why do you think I am dissatisfied with their current performance? As much better as they are than the alternative, I cannot support Democrats over them right now. However, I DO expect much more from them than they’re delivering on, and my votes, particularly in the primary elections, will reflect such dissatisfaction.
Jimb has some alient points.
Where is the leader? Where is the Superman?
I see none on the horizon.
I have to turn off Hannity everytime he has Newt on a call as Newt has aspirations for a Prez run?
Oh hell no.
Of course if you look up the word “shill”, Hannity’s face appears.
Delay’s indictment seems reasonable to me.
It appears Colyandro and Ellis, who both worked for Texans for a Republican Majority, DeLay’s PAC, in which he maintains a position of command and control, channeled corporate contributions to the RNC through the RNSEC, via at least one check drawn on an account into which corporate contributions had been deposited. Ellis and Colyandro are both Directors of the PAC. DeLay’s involvement seems less clear, but there’s no doubt he founded the PAC, and I’d be hard-pressed to believe he didn’t exercise a command and control function of some sort when the activities complained of were going on. This may be a little speculative on Earle’s part, but the Grand Jury bought it, and they must have had some evidence. As we all know though, a decent prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. This hurts DeLay. It doesn’t kill him.
Corporate contributions to our political process are problematic, regardless of who is giving the money and to whom. I’ve often wondered what it would be like to limit contributions to $10.00 per individual, and to limit spending of these funds to $100,000.00 per campaign. All other expenditure could be based on Federal or State grants, which a candidate would automatically qualify for if they are able to secure enough signatures on a petition to put them on the ballot. This is ill-thought out to say the least, but it would avoid the kind of antics BOTH parties engage in. If DeLay’s capture moves the agenda forward as far as reforming our political financing system in the US goes, then his capture is a good thing.
For the record, I do NOT think political campaign contributions are a form of political speech. Arguments posited for the view they are seem to me exercises in sophistry, designed to advance the agenda of those with the most money.
Again, for the record, Democrats are as guilty as Republicans in this regard. But that isn’t today’s news.
Here’s the original complaint filed by Texans for Public Justice: http://www.tpj.org/press_releases/trm_complaint_letter.html
The statute makes it an offense to do so within sixty days of the election. TEC 253.104(b). We must assume the funds were channeled during the proscribed window. I neglected to mention this in the previous post. My mistake.