Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Woohoo! It's a Party, Go Tommy, It's your Birthday: Tom DeLay Might Be Indicted Today

Today has suddenly taken a turn for the AWESOME.

The Texas grand jury investigating House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's state political organization was completing its term Wednesday after demonstrating a recent interest in conspiracy charges that could bring more indictments.

Lawyers with knowledge of the case said the DeLay defense team was concerned that the Travis County grand jury might consider counts of conspiracy to violate the state election code.

Their concern was triggered when similar charges were handed down two weeks ago in an expanded indictment against two DeLay political associates. The associates were accused of conspiring to violate the state election code by using corporate donations for illegal purposes.

House GOP rules require any member of the elected leadership to step down temporarily if indicted, and it would be up to the rank and file to select an interim replacement. Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., could make a recommendation, whether choosing to elevate another member of the leadership or tapping an alternative to reduce the possibility of a struggle if DeLay were cleared and then sought to reclaim his post.

The Associated Press spoke to several lawyers familiar with the case, all of whom requested anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly. DeLay, R-Texas, said Tuesday that prosecutors have interviewed him. He has insisted he committed no crimes and says Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, was pursuing the case for political reasons.

Before the recent conspiracy counts, the investigation was more narrowly focused on the state election code. By expanding the charges to include conspiracy, prosecutors made it possible for the grand jury to bring charges against DeLay. Otherwise, the grand jury would have lacked jurisdiction under state laws.

Asked Tuesday what he had heard of any late developments, DeLay said Tuesday, "Not a word."

Posted by crimnos @ 9:57 AM

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I think we should dedicate a whole post to the republicans involved in scandal...It would take a while, but be cool anyway...

Duke Cunningham
Tom Delay
Bill Frist
Tancredo

The list would be long as hell!

Posted by Blogger Jes @ 10:49 AM #
 

When I was digging around on Tom Davis, I found that http://houseofscandal.org is actually a great clearinghouse to show the ties between congresspeople and ARMPAC. I'm definitely pursuing this angle as I look at my reps - and I agree, we could run a whole series here, on your site, and on DKos covering the major players. Just need to find the time to do the research.

Posted by Blogger crimnos @ 11:02 AM #
 
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