Because things were getting boring, another heated political battle had to come to head this week:
A Texas grand jury today indicted Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) on a criminal count of conspiring with two political associates to violate state campaign finance law, and DeLay announced he would temporarily step down as House majority leader.
The indictment was disclosed in Travis County, Tex., on the last day of a grand jury investigating a campaign financing scheme involving allegedly illegal use of corporate funds.
DeLay, 58, attended a meeting in the office of House Speaker Dennis Hastert shortly after receiving word of the indictment and said afterward he notified Hastert that he would “temporarily step aside” as majority leader. GOP House rules require that any member of Congress who is indicted must step down from a leadership position. However, there is no requirement that DeLay leave his congressional seat.
In the indictment, DeLay is accused of conspiring with two associates: John D. Colyandro, the former executive director of a political action committee in Texas that was formed by DeLay, and James W. Ellis, the head of DeLay’s national political committee. Colyandro and Ellis had previously been charged in an indictment that did not name DeLay.
At the heart of the case are corporate contributions of about $190,000 that prosecutors allege were essentially laundered by DeLay and his associates through transfers from a federal fund into a state fund.
DeLay has denounced the investigation as politically motivated, noting that the Travis County district attorney, Ronnie Earle, is a Democrat.
The text of the indictment can be found at the Times.
DeLay’s response can be found here.
Project Nothing has a big round-up of reactions.
Josh
Additionally, he might be evil hitler. Dems deserve credit for not being caught breaking campaign finance law.
Krista
I seem to recall someone else on this site telling me that “The Hammer” was too smart to ever get caught up in this — guess he wasn’t so smart after all.
Can we now call him “The Slammer”? Please?
Dave Ruddell
How could you resist the temptation and not title this post “The Hammer Falls?”
ppGaz
Nobody could have anticipated this.
Horshu
Saw Trent Lott on FoxNews. If a grand jury could indict a ham sandwich like he says, why didn’t Bill Clinton (who who probably has a higher percentage of his body weight composed of ham sandwich than DeLay) get indicted for Whitewater?
Davebo
How exactly is this a “political battle”??
You thinking all the members of the grand jury are wanna be politicians or something?
Gratefulcub
Safavian – arrested
Abramoff – arrested
Frist – under investigation
DeLay – indicted
Are there more for the list? Dem or Repub. What will it take for the American public to wake up and be outraged? Not at the Repubs, but at our political culture in general. legislation is sold to the highest bidder and what is best for the american public is secondary. Sure, there are good honest men in politics, but they appear to be outnumbered 10 to 1 right now. When do we wake up and go for the gusto, throw out all the corrupt SOBs, and make a real attempt at taking some of the money out of politics?
Steve
Partisan, partisan, partisan, blah, blah, blah. What is interesting is not that an accused defendant claims prosecutorial bias, but that the claim is being treated as serious. I mean, what political figure is NOT going to say that he is the target of partisan attacks?
Boombo
Mmm, now I want a ham sandwhich.
Mike
Good.
Now hopefully he’ll either get vindicated or convicted, doesn’t much matter to me. They’re pretty much all sleazebags in my opinion these days, Repub, or Dem. Just get it over with, that’s what I want to see one way or the other.
Gratefulcub
Is there a non partisan review of Ronnie Earl anywhere to be found? Kos has a rundown of all of his democratic targets over the years, but Kos:grain of salt and all that jive. I fear that the Malkins of the web will be showing us ‘proof’ that Earl is a Stalin loving commie hell bent on jailing Republicans. Is there a moderate voice that may be able to shed some light? John?
Taylor Buley
As Julian Sanchez put it over at Hit and Run: “One down, 434 to go.”
Steve
The jury will provide the nonpartisan review, no matter how many times DeLay says it is all a partisan sham.
Mike S
Kos’ link leads to a run down by the Austin Statesman. I’m not sure why a list of past prosecutions would be partisan in either direction. The list speaks for itself.
The reason the list leans dem is because dems used to dominate Texas. But the fact that he has prosecuted them sort of hurts the partisan prosecuter meme.
TallDave
Maybe the new GOP House leader will be able to find some pork!
slide
the Delay defense:
oh?
Facts.. they are such annoying little things aren’t they?
TallDave
For the record, I like indictments like this. Even if DeLay didn’t technically break the law, it keeps politicians nervous. And a nervous politician is the closest thing we’ll ever have to an honest politician.
neil
The really intriguing thing is Billmon’s post about a rumor that Earle -didn’t- want to indict DeLay and the grand jury -did-. I want more on that, but it sounds plausible — something like, Earle wants to deal with TRMPAC without the massive publicity storm of indicting the most powerful member of Congress. Then again, maybe he’s just blah blah ham sandwich partisan attack dog democRATs getting revenge for Clinton blah blah.
I also want to know how much power DeLay still has — in particular, is he radioactive enough that he has less influence to peddle now, or does he have so much influence that nobody can afford to distance themselves?
slide
You can try this:
.
Vlad
Also interesting that we’ve now got a (rumored) gay man two steps away from the Presidency.
slide
Jeff Gannon was probably closer than two steps.
demimondian
No. You shall call him “The Shammer”. And Ronnie Earle shall be called “The Shamer”.
norbizness
Vlad: Unless Dennis “Mr. Creosote” Hastert is a rumored gay man, that’s not correct.
As for this investigation, it’s also helpful to note that several high-ranking Republican politicians and lobbyists were NOT indicted, including Tom Craddick (Speaker of the Texas House) and Bill Hammond (President of the Texas ASsociation of Business). So much for the ham sandwich thingie.
Poika
Earl has indicted 15 politicians. 11 democrats and 4 republicans. Make that 5!
Ben
Vlad,
It’s not a rumor… one of the worst kept secrets in Washington/CA.
rilkefan
Horshu: mass_hamsandwich(Clinton)/mass(Clinton) > mass_hamsandwich(DeLay)/mass(DeLay)
Ha!
(Though it’s all quarks in the real view.)
Another Jeff
Vlad,
If you’re gonna be a homophobe, at least get the chain of succession right.
John S.
If you’re a politician, isn’t anything that goes on around you politically motivated?
That would be like one of my graphic designers complaining that my changes (as Art Director) to their work was artistically motivated.
ET
Gratefulcub
You need to read up on Randy “Duke” Cunningham – may not have reached this level yet – but likely will and not too far in the distant future.
Vlad
“Unless Dennis ‘Mr. Creosote’ Hastert is a rumored gay man, that’s not correct.”
From the Senate’s website: “In 1947 a law changed the order of succession to place the Speaker of the House in line after the vice president, followed by the president pro tempore, and then the secretary of state and other cabinet officers in order of their departments’ creation. This is the system in effect today.”
If it’s any consolation, you would’ve been correct at any point before 1886.
Another Jeff
That’s great, Vlad. But House Majority Leader and Speaker of the House are two different things.
ppGaz
For God’s sake don’t tell anyone, but on this, we agree.
Vlad
“If you’re gonna be a homophobe, at least get the chain of succession right.”
I’m not being a homophobe; I just think it’s worthy of note that if the rumors are true, Dreier just became the highest-ranking homosexual in the history of our nation’s government.
M. Scott Eiland
Hypocritical innuendoes about sexual preference aside, the House Majority Leader is not in the order of succession to the Presidency–much less second in line if the President dies or resigns. That would be Denny Hastert, Speaker of the House.
The Disenfranchised Voter
Delay indicted?–About freakin’ time.
Davebo
Vlad
Just who do you think is the speaker of the House right now?
Stop digging already!
Vlad
“But House Majority Leader and Speaker of the House are two different things.”
Ach, crap. I guess equality will have to wait for another day.
slide
You know for me the silver lining in Bush’s 2004 win was that they would have no excuses. The GOP control the House, the Senate and the Presidency. Let America see what GOP governance is like. Well, I think we are all starting to get a whiff of that leadership and the stench is turning some heads, even some conservative one’s I might add. There is corruption, or allegations of corruption, cronyism, incompetence, fraud, and wasted tax dollars everywhere you look. Yes, America take a good look what you get when the GOP controls all the levers of power.
This is just the beginning in my estimation. The Wilson/CIA leak grand jury is due to expire next month. I will be very surprised if we dont’ get additional indictments from that. The Bill Frist mess, especially after the jailing of (Democrat) Marth Stewart, is going to be with us for some time. (Martha supposedly made $50,000 from her insider trading, Frist, MILLIONS) The Abramhoff scandal which touches on many many republicans. The Pentagon neocon/Israel spy scandal. The no contract bids in New Orleasns. The ever more disgusting torture revelations. Yes, the daddy party has things well in hand don’t they?
slide
Vlad:
I would tend to doubt that.
ppGaz
Slide: Word.
Yes, honor and integrity have been restored.
Move along, nothing more to see here.
Vlad
“I would tend to doubt that.”
Well, yeah, there may have been one or two earlier (Lincoln or whomever), but it’s unlikely that we’ll ever know.
Even though I brain-farted on the line of succession, it’s still a pretty important moment in history. Assuming that Republican leadership knew about him and promoted him anyway (and that the story is true), this could represent a big step forward for the party and the country as a whole.
John S.
You and me both. Now that the GOP have been given all the rope they could want, they are doing a fine job of hanging themselves with it.
Would an all Democrat government operate better? Maybe not, but hopefully one day we will find out – even if just as a point of academic comparison.
Gratefulcub
Definitely on the list.
Duke Cunningham – nice boat.
Safavian – arrested
Abramoff – arrested
Frist – under investigation
DeLay – indicted
Aren’t there some Dems we can put on the list?
Doug
Seems like there was that rumor about James Buchanan, America’s only “bachelor” President.
In any event, back to DeLay (sort of), I thought this Knight Ridder story about DeLay’s indictment nicely captured the relatively sudden seeming disarray of the national Republican Party (and it doesn’t even mention Rove):
Ben
Vlad,
I would agree with you if Drier was out… but he isn’t. Repubs don’t mind fags as long as they are in the closet. In 1997, when Kolbe outed himself (because he was about to be outed by The Advocate), the Repubs stood by him and made him a cardinal… that would never happen today in the christian coalition run republican party. It is an interesting dichotomy within the Republican party. There are a couple of other very prominent repub members that are gay but not out.
Doug
Prior to reading it here, I was unaware of the rumor about Dreier being homosexual, but it fits in with Josh Marshall’s theory about why Dreier would get the promotion rather than a more likely candidate such as Majority Whip Roy Blunt. Marshall figures Dreier is getting the nod precisely because he wouldn’t be able to keep it if/when DeLay comes looking for his job back. If there is a widely believed rumor that Dreier is gay, that would make it even less likely that he could defend against the return of DeLay.
slide
Huh? Vlad you DO realize that Drier DENIES being homosexual. You think it is a “big step forward for the party” to have a closeted gay denying his sexuality in a a high position? lol
ET
Gratefulcub – unfortunately the Rep from where I used to live Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA)who represents a good bit of New Orelans. The FBI searched his home and carted some stuff away days before Katrina.
slide
We may have been a bit premature. From Kos:
.
ET
You know the GOP is in trouble when their internal squabbling and leadership positioning makes it out from behind the closed doors.
Gratefulcub
Duke Cunningham – nice boat.
Safavian – arrested
Abramoff – arrested
Frist – under investigation
DeLay – indicted
Rep William Jefferson (D-LA)- Investigators are looking into whether Jefferson illegally pocketed hundreds of thousands of dollars of an investor’s money from business transactions during the sting
Sorry people, I am just having fun and humoring myself
ET
Gratefulcub – I am just glad only one of those on the list is from LA. Usually, our guys top the list. I’m just so proud.
slide
Perhaps I have been too harsh on Drier, as he apparently hasn’t specifically denied being gay as this reveals:
.
Gratefulcub
Doesn’t Pelosi have a better chance at getting the job than someone that ‘might be gay’? That would destroy the entire GOP platform.
Vlad
“Vlad you DO realize that Drier DENIES being homosexual.”
I know that he’s mostly tried to avoid talking about his sexuality in the past, and that he seems to have made an effort to stay out of the limelight for whatever reason (as much as it’s possible for a politican to do so, anyway). If he’s gay, he’ll probably have trouble dodging questions on the subject since he just became a much more prominent political figure.
I have to assume that Republican leadership knew about his sexuality when they picked him (whatever the answer is), and I can’t imagine that they’d throw him over the side of the boat if the story broke, because they’d look totally disorganized and out of control on the heels of the DeLay thing. They must’ve made a conscious choice to back him up no matter what, and if the story breaks and he’s forced to “come out”, it could be a real Nixon-going-to-China moment for future homosexuals in politics.
At worst, it’ll be a great opportunity to open up national dialogue on the issue.
Defense Guy
I especially love that this thread has devolved into a game of find the homo.
Vlad
Or they could drop him and go with Blunt, which would suck. Blah.
Defense Guy
Grateful cub
Not all inclusive, as EVERYTHING in DC is tainted by politics, but this might be helpful in your list.
slide
Vlad :
They’ve already dumped him, Blunt is the one.
John S.
Yeah DG, if Delay were wise he would take a cue from this thread…what’s the fastest way to detract attention from himself?
Play a game of ‘Spot the GOP Closet Homosexual’!
(Drunken deathmatch version coming this Fall)
Bruce from Missouri
Sweeeeeeeet…..
Mike S
More fun than the game we play when driving through West Hollywood. “Find the Straight Guy.”
Another Jeff
Just because Dreir likes Judy Garland, vacations in Rehobeth Beach, and still wears Abercrombie & Fitch doesn’t mean he’s gay.
Vlad
[i]”They’ve already dumped him, Blunt is the one.”[/i]
Yeah, that sucks. I hereby retract my complement.
Narvy
Sorry I’m late to this party, but I’ve been out dancing in the streets.
I would have phrased that a little more delicately, but now that it’s out …
I love the way topics in general evolve on this blog, but I agree that this one is special. John posts the news that the Hammer is getting hammered and almost instantaneously it becomes a discussion of private gayness in the public sphere.
This is not good test. Quoting a friend: “I know I’m supposed to like her, but I never could stand her.”
And the inadvertent double entendre of the day, as reported by Reuters,
Yes, but whose?
demimondian
I would be a bit more crass. It instantly becomes a mass gay-bashing session masquerading as a discussion of private gayness in the public sphere.
But, hey, that’s just me.
Narvy
It didn’t strike me as gay-bashing, although the use of the h-abbreviation was not the best choice to express DG’s thought. Maybe I’m insensitive to bashes, or maybe I don’t know the code well enough.
DougJ
Gay or not, Dreier is infinitely preferable to Blunt. Though I can’t help but think that with a guy named Blunt in charge, pot legalization can’t be far away.
DougJ
Cool link about House misconduct, DG.
Narvy
I agree, but
Kinda makes you wonder what they’re not reporting.
Defense Guy
Thanks. I particulary like the first offense on the list, spitting on another rep and cursing. We’ve come a long way baby!!
As to the abbreviation to homo, I think the context makes the use appropriate. It’s not a bash on the group, it’s a bash on the new witch hunt.
Vlad
Why is it “gay-bashing”? I’m the one who started talking about it, and I started talking about it because I was excited and thought it was a good thing.
donald
PPGZ, I’m with ya bro!
I do business with an engineer who once told me that each time a new president is elected we should put a special prosecuter on their case just because…
Narvy
How about a Constitutional amendment mandating a Presidential Nanny?