Delay Indited For Conspiracy

[DucoNihilum]

[q]DeLay indicted, steps down as majority leader

House leader calls charges 'sham'; Blunt picked as replacement

Wednesday, September 28, 2005; Posted: 4:45 p.m. EDT (20:45 GMT)

(CNN) -- Rep. Tom DeLay said Wednesday that he will step aside as House majority leader after a Texas grand jury indicted him on a conspiracy charge.

DeLay faces a single conspiracy count stemming from a long-running campaign finance investigation, the county clerk's office in Austin told CNN.

DeLay, a Republican, blasted the charge as a "sham" and an act of "political retribution."

"I have done nothing wrong," DeLay told reporters. "I have violated no law, no regulation, no rule of the House." (Watch Rep. DeLay's comments -- 4:23)

A grand jury in Austin charged DeLay, 58, and two associates already facing criminal charges with a single count of criminal conspiracy, accusing them of improperly funneling corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas legislature in 2002. (Read the indictmentexternal link)

If convicted, DeLay could face up to two years in prison and fines up to $10,000, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said.

At a news conference in Austin, Earle, a Democrat, declined to comment on any evidence he had linking DeLay to the alleged conspiracy.

But he denied any partisan motivation, telling reporters that 12 of the 15 public corruption cases he has prosecuted involved Democrats.

"The law says that corporate contributions to political campaigns are illegal in Texas," he said. "The law makes such contributions a felony. My job is to prosecute felonies. I'm doing my job."

DeLay, the Republican leader in the House of Representatives since 2002, called Earle "a partisan fanatic."

"I have done nothing unlawful, unethical or, I might add, unprecedented," he said.

The move forced DeLay, to temporarily give up his leadership position. (Watch: DeLay faces conspiracy charge -- 3:38)

"I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County district attorney," DeLay said in a statement.

House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon selected Majority Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri as their acting leader. Reps. Eric Cantor of Virginia and David Dreier of California also will take on additional duties, House Speaker Dennis Hastert said.

The rules of the GOP conference call for members to give up their leadership posts if they are indicted, but Republican members must vote on the matter.

DeLay does not have to resign his seat in the House, where he has represented a suburban Houston district since 1985. (Full story)

Earle has been investigating whether donations to Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee, known as TRMPAC, were improperly used to help the GOP win a majority in the Texas legislature in 2002.

According to the indictment, $190,000 in corporate contributions to TRMPAC were sent to national Republican Party committees.

Those committees then sent the money to GOP candidates in the 2002 legislative races, which solidified Republican control of the Legislature and led to a mid-census redistricting push that shifted the balance of Texas' congressional delegation toward the GOP.

DeLay's attorney, Bill White, called the charge "a skunky indictment."

"Like a dead skunk in the middle of the road, it stinks to high heaven," White said.

A DeLay spokesman said the charge has "no basis in the facts or the law" and blamed it on a "partisan vendetta" by a Democratic prosecutor.

"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," DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said in a written statement.

House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, D-California, had a different view.

"The criminal indictment of Majority Leader Tom Delay is the latest example that Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people," she said in a written statement.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan praised DeLay as "a leader who we have worked closely with to get things done for the American people" and a "good ally" of President Bush. Asked about the charges, McClellan said, "The president's view is that we need to let the legal process work."

The two associates indicted with DeLay on Wednesday, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, are awaiting trial on other charges related to the Texas probe.

Each was charged with one count of money laundering in September, and Colyandro faces 13 additional counts of unlawful acceptance of a corporate political contribution.

Warren Robold, a Washington fund-raiser, was indicted in 2004 on charges of accepting or making corporate donations in connection with the case. Several corporations and a trade association that contributed to TRMPAC have been charged, as well.

The majority leader spoke to Earle "voluntarily" in August, Madden said earlier this month.

"DeLay assured the district attorney's office that he was not involved in the day-to-day operations of TRMPAC, and to his knowledge all activities were properly reviewed and approved by lawyers for the PAC," Madden said. [/q] CNN http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/09/28/del...dict/index.html