Delay for DeLay

Texas Republican Tom DeLay, the U.S. House majority leader, continues to face a growing list of ethics and law violations. Four times in the past six years did the House Ethics Committee admonish him for unethical conduct or the appearance of it. DeLay, however, is not a man who takes trouble lying down. Because he is tough, he is also known as Tom (The Hammer) DeLay.

He had threatened the Electronic Industry Alliance for not hiring a Republican as its president. He had accepted a $25,000 contribution from Westar Energy executives to one of his political action committees (PACs), “Texans for a Republican Majority” (TRMPAC) just when the House was considering a bill of interest to Westar. He took advantage of his high position when he asked the Federal Aviation Administration to provide him with information on the whereabouts of Texas Democrats. And he had offered to endorse Congressman Nick Smith’s son for election to Congress in exchange for his vote in favor of the Medicare prescription drug bill.

Recently, the majority leader has been inconvenienced with more allegations of malfeasance, all of them widely published. A prosecutor in Austin, Texas, is investigating him for the use of TRMPAC to launder corporate money to state campaigns in violation of Texas law. TRMPAC collected $190,000 from corporations and sent the money as a permissible contribution to the Republican National Committee which promptly sent the same amount to the candidates favored by “Texans for a Republican Majority.”

DeLay watchers charge that in 1997 he made a trip to Moscow whose $57,238 cost was paid by business interests lobbying for Russian authorities. Questions have been raised about the more than $500,000 paid by DeLay’s PACs and campaign committees to his wife and daughter for “fundraising” and “campaign management”.

In direct violation of House ethics rules, he accepted numerous gifts for foreign travel, lodging, and golf outings from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now under criminal investigation by the Justice Department. Two months after DeLay solicited funds from Indian casinos, he helped kill bills the casinos opposed. He also obtained funds for a visit to South Korea from the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a registered foreign agent. In a civil judgment on May 26, a judge in Austin, Texas, ordered the TRMPAC treasurer to pay close to $200,000 in damages for not reporting $613,433 in campaign contributions to the Texas Ethics Commission. Being protected by congressional immunity, DeLay did not have to testify.

Last year, Speaker Dennis Hastert replaced Democrat Joel Hefley with Republican Doc Hastings as chairman of the bipartisan Ethics Committee. Hefley had presided over three admonishments of DeLay. Republicans Kenny Hulshof and Steve LaTourette who also had admonished the majority leader were replaced with Republicans Lamar Smith and Tom Cole who had contributed $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, to DeLay’s legal defense fund. ( Why, one may ask, did DeLay see a need to accumulate a defense fund--now over $1 million-- as long as five years ago?)

Democrats who dislike the majority leader are obviously thriving on his troubles. To understand the seriousness of the allegations against him, one needs to listen to the growing number of Republicans who fear to get hammered by their political association with The Hammer. In past cases when House Speakers Newt Gingrich, a Republican, and Jim Wright, a Democrat, tried to persevere despite their ethical problems, it was criticism from within their own parties that led to their demise.

Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays stated publicly that DeLay's ethics problems are "harmful to the Republican Conference, a conference that ran on the highest ethical standards." Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) agreed: "We've got to uphold the highest standards of legality and ethics. … You can't have your leader under a cloud." Senator Trent Lott offered more actionable advice to his colleague in the other body: “The power of prayer is the only thing that will sustain you.”

Even though Tom DeLay has repeatedly expressed his eagerness to vindicate himself before the Ethics Committee, he and his supporters have just as eagerly done their best to delay the hearings.

Wolf D. Fuhrig	Home	06-12-05
Delay for DeLay
Texas Republican Tom DeLay, the U.S. House majority leader, continues to face a growing list of ethics and law violations. Four times in the past six years did the House Ethics Committee admonish him for unethical conduct or the appearance of it. DeLay, however, is not a man who takes trouble lying down. Because he is tough, he is also known as Tom (The Hammer) DeLay. He had threatened the Electronic Industry Alliance for not hiring a Republican as its president. He had accepted a $25,000 contribution from Westar Energy executives to one of his political action committees (PACs), “Texans for a Republican Majority” (TRMPAC) just when the House was considering a bill of interest to Westar. He took advantage of his high position when he asked the Federal Aviation Administration to provide him with information on the whereabouts of Texas Democrats. And he had offered to endorse Congressman Nick Smith’s son for election to Congress in exchange for his vote in favor of the Medicare prescription drug bill. Recently, the majority leader has been inconvenienced with more allegations of malfeasance, all of them widely published. A prosecutor in Austin, Texas, is investigating him for the use of TRMPAC to launder corporate money to state campaigns in violation of Texas law. TRMPAC collected $190,000 from corporations and sent the money as a permissible contribution to the Republican National Committee which promptly sent the same amount to the candidates favored by “Texans for a Republican Majority.” DeLay watchers charge that in 1997 he made a trip to Moscow whose $57,238 cost was paid by business interests lobbying for Russian authorities. Questions have been raised about the more than $500,000 paid by DeLay’s PACs and campaign committees to his wife and daughter for “fundraising” and “campaign management”. In direct violation of House ethics rules, he accepted numerous gifts for foreign travel, lodging, and golf outings from lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now under criminal investigation by the Justice Department. Two months after DeLay solicited funds from Indian casinos, he helped kill bills the casinos opposed. He also obtained funds for a visit to South Korea from the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a registered foreign agent. In a civil judgment on May 26, a judge in Austin, Texas, ordered the TRMPAC treasurer to pay close to $200,000 in damages for not reporting $613,433 in campaign contributions to the Texas Ethics Commission. Being protected by congressional immunity, DeLay did not have to testify. Last year, Speaker Dennis Hastert replaced Democrat Joel Hefley with Republican Doc Hastings as chairman of the bipartisan Ethics Committee. Hefley had presided over three admonishments of DeLay. Republicans Kenny Hulshof and Steve LaTourette who also had admonished the majority leader were replaced with Republicans Lamar Smith and Tom Cole who had contributed $10,000 and $5,000, respectively, to DeLay’s legal defense fund. ( Why, one may ask, did DeLay see a need to accumulate a defense fund--now over $1 million-- as long as five years ago?) Democrats who dislike the majority leader are obviously thriving on his troubles. To understand the seriousness of the allegations against him, one needs to listen to the growing number of Republicans who fear to get hammered by their political association with The Hammer. In past cases when House Speakers Newt Gingrich, a Republican, and Jim Wright, a Democrat, tried to persevere despite their ethical problems, it was criticism from within their own parties that led to their demise. Connecticut Republican Christopher Shays stated publicly that DeLay's ethics problems are "harmful to the Republican Conference, a conference that ran on the highest ethical standards." Senator Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) agreed: "We've got to uphold the highest standards of legality and ethics. … You can't have your leader under a cloud." Senator Trent Lott offered more actionable advice to his colleague in the other body: “The power of prayer is the only thing that will sustain you.” Even though Tom DeLay has repeatedly expressed his eagerness to vindicate himself before the Ethics Committee, he and his supporters have just as eagerly done their best to delay the hearings.

Wolf D. Fuhrig

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06-12-05

Delay for DeLay