DeLay Helps Earle Establish Motive
DeLay Helps Earle Establish Motive
Either Tom DeLay isn’t taking Dick DeGuerin’s advice, or he needs to start scouring the yellow pages for a new lawyer.
Here’s what DeLay said last night in an interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity:
Ronnie Earle has established no intent, no motive to commit a crime.
But only minutes earlier, DeLay did a pretty good job establishing motive:
So we had an opportunity in 2002. I wanted to redistrict the congressional seats, so I wanted to make sure and help gain a majority in the Texas House. So I came up with this idea to form a political action committee to raise money to get into state representative races so that we could win seats.
We were successful. And after that, we were successful in a congressional redistricting to the tune of gaining five Republican seats and more fairly represent the values of the people of Texas.
I’m sure Earle appreciates the help.
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ya gotta love ronnie earle…
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http://takeitpersonally.blogspot.com/2005/09/ronnie-earle-responds-bless-im.html
Being vilified as a “rogue district attorney,” a “fanatic” and “an unabashed partisan zealot,” among other epithets, was not the worst part of his day, said Ronnie Earle, hours after announcing the indictment of Representative Tom DeLay and two associates.
“Mostly, I haven’t had any lunch,” said Mr. Earle, the Travis County prosecutor, speaking from his office in Austin.
[...]
But Mr. Earle would not let it pass, it turned out. “I find they often accuse others of doing what they themselves do,” he said. “And what else are they going to say?”
“This is about protecting the integrity of our electoral system and I couldn’t just ignore it,” he said.
[...]
But he denied that politics had played any role, as Mr. DeLay and his lawyers claimed.
“I would expect that that would be their response,” Mr. Earle said. “This is what they believe of themselves.”
September 29th, 2005 at 11:14 amI suggest if you KNOW that redistricting will help gain seats, then it’s called gerrymandering. We Texans know that reality to be true.
September 29th, 2005 at 11:18 amKeep digging ‘delie’…but don’t put your dirt in boss GW’s hole… Any atty.will tell client: “SHUT UP!”…but noooooooooooooooooooo…lolol.
September 29th, 2005 at 11:39 amThe Supreme Court is forever.
September 29th, 2005 at 11:50 amDeLay? Get a rope.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:01 pmAnd a chair for him to stand on.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:05 pmI’ll hang on his legs.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:07 pm“The Supreme Court is forever”
Wow! That is a long time. I guess O’Connor and (especially) Rehnquist couldn’t wait that long.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:19 pmNeD has the hiccups. Supreme Court *sqawk* Supreme Court *sqawk* The trolls don’t have much left to say.
ppsssssssssssssssssss
September 29th, 2005 at 12:25 pmHear that? It’s the sound of the balloon blowing out hot air from the corrupt GOP.
D’oh!!
September 29th, 2005 at 12:27 pmThis is probably beyond the comprehension of the “Left Wing” and “Hillary in Charge” fans out there, but the element of motive is not that big a deal in most conspriacy cases. The toughest thing to prove is usually the existence of an actual conspiracy to commit a crime, as opposed to an agreement to work toward some other lawful objective.
In this case, the alleged objective of the conspiracy is not success in the 2002 midterm elections; it is the violation of Texas state campaign finance laws. The probelme for Ronnie Earle is that much of DeLay’s “motive” for whatever he did was 100% protected by the First Amendment.
That is just one reason why I expect Tom DeLay to beat this bum rap. And, when he does, the Democrats had better watch out. Payback, Hammer style, is reputed to be a Hillarious experience.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:32 pm“The probelme for Ronnie Earle is that much of DeLay’s “motive†for whatever he did was 100% protected by the First Amendment.”
The motive was to circumvent state election laws, that is NOT protected by the first amendment. Looks like a failure to comprehend is a personal projection of YOURS…
“That is just one reason why I expect Tom DeLay to beat this bum rap.”
I’m sure that’s what you said before he was CONVICTED 3 times by fellow republicans for ethical violations. Let me guess, you called all of those ‘bum raps’ as well. You know they have medication to treat delusions like yours…
September 29th, 2005 at 12:35 pmRaising money for political campaigns is not illegal. DeLay raised campaign contributions??? Because he wanted Republican candidates to win elections??!?!!??!!? Stop the presses!!! Idiots. *L*
September 29th, 2005 at 12:52 pmLaaaaasssst Throoooooes.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:53 pm*L*oser, *L*iar, *L*et go.
September 29th, 2005 at 12:55 pmRaising money is not illegal it was who it was raised from for local elections in texas. Texas law forbids corporate contributions to be used for getting someone elected, but they are allowed for office expenses. What the PAC did was take money from corporate sponsers flush it through the national republican party and then send amounts to individual elections from the NRP. This was clearly ilegal under texas law. The only thing left is to decide who to blame for it. Life is not fair.
Dan
September 29th, 2005 at 1:07 pm“Raising money for political campaigns is not illegal. DeLay raised campaign contributions??? Because he wanted Republican candidates to win elections??!?!!??!!? Stop the presses!!! Idiots. *L*”
Wow, what an illiterate rant. Actually there are LOTS of ways to illegally raise money for campaigns. You can’t actually be stupid enough to not know thise can you?
In Texas, corporations aren’t allow to donate to political campaigns. It’s one way that Texas stayed democratic for decades. Delay and his PAC took corporate money, and sent it out of state in a money laundering scheme. Then out of state money was sent back to break the rules.
Enron used a similar scheme to scam california with power sells. Power generated in california had specific regulations on prices different from those that came out of state. Enron used a scam called Death Star which sold california generated power out of state, and then ‘bought’ out of state power that it could sell under a different pricing scheme.
This is the same kind of scam to subvert Texas election laws – and it helped the Texas GOP afford a massive smear and corporate election machine to undermine their democratically chosen election rules.
So get a clue!
September 29th, 2005 at 1:09 pmSee what he told Brit Hume on the video at C&L.
http://www.crooksandliars.com/
Isn’t his description of what his PAC did a crime in Texas? He denied it was a crime and he denied knowing about it ahead of time but what else would you expect him to say?
September 29th, 2005 at 1:17 pmDelay wouldn’t be showing his face if he were innocent. That’s his style. He’s in damage control. It’s over.
September 29th, 2005 at 1:32 pmWeak stuff trolls.
September 29th, 2005 at 1:39 pmI know you can do better.
Maybe you have a new fax to get material from,
better go check.
Dance, trolls, dance!
September 29th, 2005 at 1:47 pmI think this is why lawyers advise against speaking about pending cases….of course those as hubristic as Delay are doomed to ignore such advice at their peril.
September 29th, 2005 at 1:47 pmNo sane person is interested in your lunatic conspiracy theories, Ryan.
September 29th, 2005 at 1:51 pm#23 Apparently 12 Texans and a DA are… or are they insane too…?
September 29th, 2005 at 1:59 pmNED says, “The Supreme Court is forever.” Except that they all will die one day and he seems to not care at all that the GOP leaders in all three branches of government are on the run for charges of cronyism and coruption! Bush, Delay and Frist have had wonderful months, right, NED?
September 29th, 2005 at 2:03 pmWallace,
I see your point about fund raising and party propogation. But I think this is also what it is really about. When is it too big to be democratic? This hubub with Delay is ultimately about restrictions on campaign finance, and what people do to get around it. Delay plays with fire? Everybody knows it. He’s an unethical person? Everyone knows that. It’s a bad combination.
Ultimately, his game of turning donor corporations into uber lobbyists packed with partisans would backfire anyway. For example, I don’t think Bacardi really wants to be a Republican Corporation when the cycle kicks in and Democrats rule. It’s bad business. And we can thank Earle for helping us understand this practice. You should be grateful for this along with the rest of us. Buy Blue is a partisan organization. I’ll tell you now it will eventually be restricted by campaign finance law in one form or another.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:06 pmPeople keep saying Delay is a target because “he is a strong leader”. That’s bunk. He’s aggressive and unethical. And his disposition has helped expose problems with campaign finance.
Well, their efforts to establish a permanent Republican majority sure are resonating with voters. Now I see how wrong I was to think Iraq was a mistake, deficits matter, and corruption is bad.
Let’s all vote Republican so we can have even more. Our standing in the world will continue to decline — who needs allies anyway, right? Our fiscal situation will continue on its present course until we owe more than we could possibly pay, and maybe we’ll lose another major city.
On the upside, we’ll be able to insult liberals whenever we want.
NED, BSR, IRI: Mission Accomplished!
September 29th, 2005 at 2:11 pmDoes anybody find it interesting that a democratic country (USA) is borrowing money from a communist country (China) to build a theocratic country (Iraq)?
This shit is just mind boggling.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:27 pmThat narrows it down, doesn’t it, Spudge? I’ll have to use that. Thanks.
BTW, why are you here, Wallace? Why do you choose to surround yourself with people you hate? Are you that lonely?
September 29th, 2005 at 2:36 pmI don’t remember this much outrage from the left when Clinton was raising money from the ChiComs in the White House.
As for DeLay, I read the indictment, and it doesn’t mention anything specific that he did wrong. Why do you suppose that is? Perhaps the fact Earle is a partisan Democrat has something to do with it.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:39 pmI don’t hate anyone, regressive and proud, I’m not a leftist.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:40 pmWhy are you here?
September 29th, 2005 at 2:42 pm“As for DeLay, I read the indictment, and it doesn’t mention anything specific that he did wrong.”
It’s because he didn’t really do anything wrong. This is just a democratic conspiracy. We all have our tin foil hats on.
You’re a dumbass.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:45 pmWallace,
September 29th, 2005 at 2:47 pmThe details were left out because Earle does not want Delay’s lawyers to build their case. Earle is putting the squeeze on Bacardi and others who were Delay whores.
Besides, Delay has known for a week he would be indicted. He knows more than you are believing. Please do more research before you spread more misinformation.
The pictures and video have been released. The end of the illegal Iraq war is near.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:57 pm#30: “Earle is a partisan democrat”. Don’t believe everything Brit Hume tells you, dittohead. Over to you Houston Chronicle http://www.tpj.org/page_view.jsp?pageid=571&pf=1 (from a post by Thinkprogress just two more clicks away from here http://thinkprogress.org/2005/09/28/truth-ronnie-earle/ – if your mind was open enough to go and look). But Wallace your mind is closed, isn’t it? You can’t think for yourself – just the way they want you.
September 29th, 2005 at 2:58 pm“Dollars for Dismissalsâ€
The prosecutor in the DeLay case dropped charges in exchange for cash to pet cause.
ya gotta love ronnie earle…
comment by profmarcus
Oh, we love him all right. This time he’s going to get his ass handed to him. He’ll be lucky if he stays out of jail himself. Travis County Texas is a commie infested shithole and when I’m elected I’m going to nuke it.
Comment by I-RIGHT-I, voice of compasionate conservatism in a ratbastardcommiemofo infested website
“Ronnie Earle, the Texas prosecutor who has indicted associates of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in an ongoing campaign-finance investigation, dropped felony charges against several corporations indicted in the probe in return for the corporations’ agreement to make five- and six-figure contributions to one of Earle’s pet causes.”
“Dollars for Dismissalsâ€
The prosecutor in the DeLay case dropped charges in exchange for cash to pet cause.
Ronnie Earle, the Texas prosecutor who has indicted associates of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay in an ongoing campaign-finance investigation, dropped felony charges against several corporations indicted in the probe in return for the corporations’ agreement to make five- and six-figure contributions to one of Earle’s pet causes.
A grand jury in Travis County, Texas, last September indicted eight corporations in connection with the DeLay investigation. All were charged with making illegal contributions (Texas law forbids corporate giving to political campaigns). Since then, however, Earle has agreed to dismiss charges against four of the companies — retail giant Sears, the restaurant chain Cracker Barrel, the Internet company Questerra, and the collection company Diversified Collection Services — after the companies pledged to contribute to a program designed to publicize Earle’s belief that corporate involvement in politics is harmful to American democracy.
http://www.nationalreview.com/york/york200506200910.asp
September 29th, 2005 at 3:06 pmI suggest if you KNOW that redistricting will help gain seats, then it’s called gerrymandering. We Texans know that reality to be true.
Comment by Patriot
It was invented by LBJ wasn’t it?
September 29th, 2005 at 3:08 pmI know about “Dollars for Dismissals” And you know what I-RIGHT-I? Those companies did not have to do a damn thing if they did not want to participate in that program. They chose to.
September 29th, 2005 at 3:20 pmYou try to paint Earle a fool with fancy phrasiology borrowed from Delay. Sears was just another borderline bankrupt company trying to buy protection through a Delay PAC. They got off easy.
You’re a f*cking sheep, I-RIGHT-I.
September 29th, 2005 at 3:21 pmDelay is going down, Frist is going down, and Bush is going down, and they’ll take the Neo-con branch of the Republican party with them. Good riddance to bad rubbish.
September 29th, 2005 at 4:18 pmCorporate involvement in politics IS harmful to American democracy. DUH, to use the repub vernacular.
Way to go Earle!!! We need more intelligencia in these kinds of positions. We need more Thurgood Marshalls and less Marshall Andys.
September 29th, 2005 at 4:20 pm“We all have our tin foil hats on.”
That’s pretty obvious.
September 29th, 2005 at 8:34 pm#36,
September 29th, 2005 at 8:35 pmBut Earle is a partisan Democrat. That is a fact.
“#36,
But Earle is a partisan Democrat. That is a fact.
Comment by Wallace ”
No THAT is a conclusion. The FACT is that he prosecuted 3 times as many democrats as republicans. Clearly this FACT disputes your conclusion…
No wonder you guys think the earth is flat and the world is 8000 years old – you clearly are incapable of distinguishing a fact from a conclusion!
September 30th, 2005 at 1:47 amIs there anyone in this country that isn’t a partisan at this point? Thanks Dubya and Karl! Thanks cuz they all be partisan Democrats about now! About 70 to 80 % I’d say!
September 30th, 2005 at 6:08 pm“The FACT is that he prosecuted 3 times as many democrats as republicans. Clearly this FACT disputes your conclusion…”
No it does not. One can be a partisan Democrat and prosecute some Democrats. There’s not a contradiction there, you poor unthinking rube. *L*
September 30th, 2005 at 9:59 pm“No it does not. One can be a partisan Democrat and prosecute some Democrats. There’s not a contradiction there, you poor unthinking rube. *L*
Comment by Wallace ”
Sure there is you dope. Being a partisan implies that you only hold the other party to your rules, and not your own. Clearly you know english even less than you know politics!
1 : a firm adherent to a party , faction, cause, or person; especially : one exhibiting blind, prejudiced, and unreasoning allegiance
2 a : a member of a body of detached light troops making forays and harassing an enemy
Since the other ‘party’ is the enemy in politics, attacking one’s own party is NOT partisan, and those that attack their own party equally or more than the other side is the OPPOSITE of partisan.
Get a clue you stupid dipshit!
October 1st, 2005 at 12:32 amAnd wallace,
YOU are partisan as are your trolls. I rarely if ever hear you criticize your own, and they only times I do is when they’ve told the truth. Not only are you partisan, but you’re a stupid partisan hack!
October 1st, 2005 at 12:35 am“Being a partisan implies that you only hold the other party to your rules, and not your own”
No it doesn’t. Ranting and raving like a lunatic won’t change that fact, Ryan. It will help my side win, however, so please carry on. :)
October 1st, 2005 at 1:02 pm“Being a partisan implies that you only hold the other party to your rules, and not your ownâ€
“No it doesn’t. Ranting and raving like a lunatic won’t change that fact, Ryan. It will help my side win, however, so please carry on. :)”
Wow, I have the permission to ‘carry on’ from a witless republican who doesn’t agree with the webster dictionarly definition of partisan. Clearly republicans are too ’smart’ to care what dictionaries, science, math and medicine say! Their bible tells them I’m a partisan.
You’re a moron!
And wallace,
YOU are partisan as are your trolls. I rarely if ever hear you criticize your own, and they only times I do is when they’ve told the truth. Not only are you partisan, but you’re a stupid partisan hack!
October 1st, 2005 at 1:36 pm“1 : a firm adherent to a party , faction, cause, or person;”
That fits Earle perfectly. Ryan’s crazy ranting won’t change that.
October 1st, 2005 at 3:10 pmThere is all this talk about this and that use to which corporate money can be used in a Texas election, but, interestingly, Earle doesn’t mention any of this in his indictment. The narrow question of law that seems to be at issue here is whether Delay and friends conspired with corporations to give money to a political party within 60 days of an election.
It is not against the law to raise corporate money for administrative puposes. It is in Texas, however, illegal to give or accept corporate money during the run up to an election. (that is 60 days before the election).
What is not clear from the indictment is when the corporations actually gave the money to Delay’s PAC. My guess is Delay and friends knew Texas law. The corporate donations were probably given outside the 60 day limit. Delay’s PAC sent the money onto the Republican National Convention about 55 some odd days before the election. There is no law against a general political organization given funds to a political party. PACs are not considered by Texas laws to be corporations. Even if the money sent to the national party was the corporate funds there doesn’t seem to be any crime committed. The law only speaks to corporations giving money within the 60 day period. If AT&T, et. al. donated the money legally earlier than 60 days before the election, then case closed. Delay’s PAC moved money to the national party during the 60 day period, but this is not a crime. “Yes, well, it was corporate money.” Well, strictly speaking it was not. This was the PAC’s money and their ain’t no law against exchanging funds between a PAC and a political party.
Now if the corporations gave the money to Delay’s PAC within 60 days of the election, then, well, this would be a whole ‘nother kettle of fish.
October 1st, 2005 at 10:41 pmDick DeGuerin will beat incompetent Ronnie Earle like a borrowed mule. Yeah, DeLay is corrupt, but Earle is a total incompetent and out of his 2-bit league.
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January 18th, 2006 at 5:48 pmThe corporate donations were probably given outside the 60 day limit. Delay’s PAC sent the money onto the Republican National Convention about 55 some odd days before the election. There is no law against a general political organization given funds to a political party. PACs are not considered by Texas laws to be corporations. Even if the money sent to the national party was the corporate funds there doesn’t seem to be any crime committed. The law only speaks to corporations giving money within the 60 day period. If AT&T, et. al. donated the money legally earlier than 60 days before the election, then case closed. Delay’s PAC moved money to the national party during the 60 day period, but this is not a crime.
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