SWEET---to see the infighting among Repugs
http://www.americanprogressaction.org/site/pp.asp?c=klLWJcP7H&b=408817#1CORRUPT ESTABLISHMENT
Indictment DeLayed – But For How Long?
Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) is in trouble. In court, in Congress, even in his hometown of Sugar Land, the scandal-plagued House majority leader is facing increasingly serious accusations. Last night on CBS's 60 Minutes, Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle said DeLay may yet be indicted for his role in the Texas criminal investigation involving alleged illegal corporate campaign contributions and money laundering. Here's an overview of the many fronts on which DeLay is now batting off charges:
"THE HAMMER" VS. "MR. CLEAN": Legal experts say DeLay is becoming the prime focus of Ronnie Earle's investigation. Three of the companies indicted in the campaign finance case have agreed to cooperate with the investigation, and CBS reports that "lawyers following the case say the prosecutor may try and 'flip' the two DeLay associates indicted in the case," offering them a deal in exchange for evidence against DeLay. DeLay has responded to the allegations with a campaign to smear Earle as "vindictive and partisan"; Earle, known in Texas as "Mr. Clean" for his history of nonpartisan independence, likened the accusation to "being called ugly by a frog."
DELAY VULNERABLE IN CONGRESS…: Congressional conservatives are also getting frustrated with the cloud of scandal following DeLay. "Republicans in the House are worried that this could be a huge flameout for Tom DeLay," Norm Ornstein, a scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, told CBS. It's not hard to figure out why. With support for President Bush's second term agenda faltering, conservatives in Congress need all the message discipline they can muster. Yet DeLay has been "unable to escape relentless media attention of his ethics problems and the Texas criminal and civil cases." Now conservatives who were burned by DeLay are becoming more vocal. Rep. Joel Hefley (R-CO), chairman of the House Ethics Committee that publicly rebuked DeLay three times last year, was removed from the panel in February. At the time, ethics watchdogs protested, but "Hefley took the move in stride, saying it was not retaliatory." This past weekend, however, Hefley said the move was "very much like a purge."
…EVEN IN TEXAS: Last week, Washington Post reporter Mike Allen took a trip to DeLay's district in Sugar Land. "Though the change has received little notice," Allen found, "DeLay's strength in his suburban Houston congressional district of strip malls and housing developments has eroded considerably– forcing him to renew his focus on protecting his seat."
DELAY'S ETHICAL VACATION: There's no sign of the scandals easing up. Last weekend, the National Journal reported DeLay had enjoyed a luxurious vacation at the Four Seasons Hotel in London in mid-2000, paid for by corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Abramoff is best known for teaming up with right-wing religious fundamentalist Ralph Reed to close down a Texas casino operated by the Tigua Indians in 2002, then persuading the tribe to pay the two of them $4.2 million to lobby Washington lawmakers, including DeLay, to reopen it. According to expense accounts obtained by the Journal, Abramoff financed DeLay and DeLay's staff's stay at the Four Seasons hotel to the tune of $4,285.35. The total reimbursement for expenses in London was $13,318.50. Last week, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said the charges required the House Ethics Committee to open up yet another DeLay-focused investigation.
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