“It’s a problem that’s faced by police forces in every major city in our country, that criminals infiltrate and sign up to join the police force.”

Prominent Religious Right groups went days without saying a word in defense of Pat Robertson after his assassination gaffe.

But when Tom DeLay gets in trouble, the response is immediate. Clearly, people like James Dobson and Tony Perkins know where their bread is buttered. When DeLay gets hurt, so does their right-wing agenda.

Family Research Council

Robertson: No comment.
DeLay: “Tom DeLay is a great leader for pro-family public policies of enduring importance to the nation.”

Focus on the Family

Robertson: No comment.
DeLay: “Today’s indictment of Majority Leader Tom DeLay bears all the signs of a trumped-up, political witch-hunt. The extreme left has seized this chance to take a swipe at one of America’s leading advocates of family values.”

Traditional Values Coalition

Robertson: No comment.
DeLay: DeLay is “a Christian man” and prosecutor Ronnie Earle is exacting “political retribution.”

Christian Coalition of America

Robertson: No comment.
DeLay: “Yesterday’s indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on an unsubstantiated charge of conspiracy… [has] been a major objective for the past several years of the extreme left wing and enthusiastically supported by their sychophants in the ‘Old Media.’”

Criminally indicted former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay yesterday laid out a strong case…against himself.

Each of the points below were spoken verbatim by DeLay during an interview last night on Fox News (we’ve compiled them all into a single video). If this is his “defense,” he’s in serious trouble.

Watch the DeLay compilation: Quicktime Streaming

– I have had ethics charges filed starting in 1993
– Again in 1995
– A racketeering suit right after that
– Some more ethics charges right after that
– This has been going on for two years, multiple grand juries, and then they come out with an indictment
– [The grand jury] asked me to come in. … Basically what I showed them was, yes, it was my idea to set up this political action committee
– It was my idea to set up TRMPAC
– I got it all organized
– I and four other elected officials were on an advisory board [of TRMPAC]
– I went to five fundraisers
– They did use my name to raise money
– They told me about it later, and then they would tell me things are going well
– Jim Ellis … also runs my ARMPAC
– Jim Ellis would let me know how things were going because was interested in how things are going and how much money they were raising
– The point here is is Texas deserved a Republican House of Representatives. The way you got change that was to take the majority in the Texas House, and that was my goal. It was successful
– Ronnie Earle let my lawyers know last week that I was going to be indicted
– I have hired Dick DeGuerin, who is my lawyer, who is the same lawyer that taught Ronnie Earle a lesson

“New Hampshire Republican Congressman Jeb Bradley says he will return 15-thousand dollars in campaign funds from former House majority leader Tom DeLay’s political action committee.” (Via Sploid)

says the ThinkProgress post on Ronnie Earle “should become the center of a progressive blogger Google bomb on behalf of Earle.” We’ll kick it off: Ronnie Earle. (What’s a Google bomb?)

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.

There is not a single editorial or op-ed about DeLay’s indictment in today’s Washington Times. Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist writes about the threat of avian flu. (HT: Hotline sub req’d)

A comprehensive list of DeLay’s legal and ethical problems. A ThinkProgress classic.

Tom DeLay wants you to believe he was completely in the dark about TRMPAC’s activities. Here’s what DeLay said tonight on Hardball:

That’s TRMPAC. That’s not me”¦I was simply, along with four other elected officials, on an advisory board. They used my name as headliners for fundraisers and I had no idea what they were doing.

The facts suggest otherwise:

DELAY SAID TRMPAC WAS HIS IDEA: “U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said Wednesday that it was his idea to create Texans for a Republican Majority.” [Austin American Statesman, 3/10/05]

DELAY ADMITTED HE WAS A “CREATOR, ADVISOR AND FUNDRAISER” FOR TRMPAC: “House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Wednesday he served as a creator, adviser and fund-raiser to a Texas-based political action committee now under state criminal investigation.” [Houston Chronicle, 3/10/04]

TRMPAC LITERATURE NAMES DELAY AS ORGANZATION “LEADER”: “Q: Who is Leading Texas for a Republican Majority? A: The leadership of the PAC includes Rep. Tom DeLay”¦” [TRMPAC, Q&A For Potential Media Inquires]

EVIDENCE SUGGESTS DELAY WAS INVOLVED IN COLLECTING CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS: “Documents, which were entered into evidence last week in a related civil trial in Austin, the state capital, suggest that Mr. DeLay personally forwarded at least one large corporate check to the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and that he was in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation’s largest companies on the committee’s behalf.” [New York Times, 3/9/05]

DELAY PARTICIPATED IN TRMPAC FINANCE COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALLS [TRMPAC, 10/5/02]

“made between $2 million and $6 million by selling his HCA holdings just before stock values plummeted in the face of a bad earnings report,” according to the nonpartisan Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights.