DeLay resigns after Republican mutiny

[Secret Squirrel]

TOM DELAY, the former pest exterminator who became a key figure in America’s conservative revolution, fell victim at the weekend to a growing congressional corruption scandal.

After a party mutiny the Texas congressman said that he would step down as leader of the Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

Mr DeLay, 58, earned a reputation as “The Hammer”, for the iron fist with which he ruled the House Republicans, first as a whip and then as majority leader since 2002. He stepped aside temporarily in September when he was indicted on money-laundering charges from his effort to finance a Republican takeover of the Texas legislature, which led to a redrawing of constituencies that put five more Republicans in Congress in 2004.

Last week’s guilty pleas by the Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff sealed his fate. Mr Abramoff confessed to conspiracy, mail fraud and tax evasion and is said to be ready to implicate half a dozen congressmen and senators, as well as former members of Mr DeLay’s staff.

link (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,11069-1976397,00.html)

[Greek soldier]

Now he should change his name

Tom DeLeted

[Durandal]

Abramoff is going help the feds nail a whole bunch of corrupt jackasses to the wall...

Both Rep and Dem...'bout time too.

[American Patriot]

Delay did a lot of good things in the Senate.. too bad

[sethen]

Abramoff prosecutors may blackmail congressman for support of Iran invasion. www.insider-magazine.com/AbramoffScorecard.html

[Firetxmi]

Court denies DeLay's requests

11:17 AM CST on Monday, January 9, 2006
Associated Press

AUSTIN, Texas - The state's highest criminal court on Monday denied Rep. Tom DeLay's request that the money laundering charges against him be dismissed or be sent back to a lower court for an immediate trial.

Prosecutors allege Tom DeLay and two associates funneled money through a Texas political committee. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals denied the requests with no written order two days after he announced he was stepping down as House majority leader. DeLay was forced to temporarily relinquish the post after he was indicted on money laundering and conspiracy charges in September. He denies wrongdoing.

DeLay and his attorneys had been trying to rush to trial in Texas in hopes of clearing his name and allowing him to regain the position. That changed Saturday, though, when DeLay announced he would not attempt to reclaim the job.

The House is expected to hold leadership elections when lawmakers return to the Capitol the week of Jan. 31.

Prosecutors allege DeLay and two associates funneled $190,000 in corporate contributions through the Texas political committee and an arm of the Republican National Committee to seven GOP state legislative candidates.

They accuse DeLay and the associates of trying to circumvent Texas' law prohibiting spending corporate money on campaigns, except for administrative expenses.

Source: http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/011006dntexdelay.5e85fc41.html

[ElHombre]

Delay did a lot of good things in the Senate.. too bad

errr... he's in the House.

Now he should change his name

Tom DeLeted

:lol: i'm going to use that one. my thanks.

[Firetxmi]

WASHINGTON - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay tried to pressure the Bush administration into shutting down an Indian-owned casino that lobbyist Jack Abramoff wanted closed — shortly after a tribal client of Abramoff's donated to a DeLay political action committee, The Associated Press has learned.

The Texas Republican demanded closure of the casino, owned by the Alabama-Coushatta tribe of Texas, in a Dec. 11, 2001 letter to then-Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Associated Press obtained the letter from a source who did not want to be identified because of an ongoing federal investigation of Abramoff and members of Congress.

"We feel that the Department of Justice needs to step in and investigate the inappropriate and illegal actions by the tribe, its financial backers, if any, and the casino equipment vendors," said the letter, which was also signed by Texas Republican Reps. Pete Sessions, John Culberson and Kevin Brady.

Sessions' political action committee received $6,500 from Abramoff's tribal clients within three months after signing the letter. A spokeswoman for Sessions said he considers gaming a state issue. She said the tribe was circumventing state law and Sessions signed the letter in defense of Texas laws.

Ashcroft never took action on the request. The Texas casino was closed the following year by a federal court ruling in a 1999 lawsuit filed by the state's attorney general, John Cornyn, now a U.S. senator.

Kevin Madden, DeLay's spokesman, said DeLay's actions "were based on policy considerations and their effect on his constituents. Mr. DeLay always makes decisions with the best interests of his constituents in mind."

The letter was sent at least two weeks after the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, a tribal client of Abramoff's, contributed $1,000 to Texans for a Republican Majority, or TRMPAC. That political action committee is at the center of the campaign finance investigation that yielded money laundering charges against DeLay and forced him temporarily out of the majority leader's job.

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060110/ap_on_go_co/lobbyist_fraud_delay_1;_ylt=At5R24PXD8VRaIbYrJ2btFuGbToC;_ylu=X3oDMTBiMW04NW9mBHNlYwMlJVRPUCUl

Poor guy. I feel so bad for him, being singled out by this Democrat prosecutor and judge. What horror! These guys need to be stopped! :D :roll:

[American Patriot]

I was thinking of Bill Frist for some reason..

[9mmRifle]

DeLay: FBI ‘running amok’
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/delay-fbi-running-amok-2007-05-08.html

[Durandal]

DeLay: FBI ‘running amok’
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/delay-fbi-running-amok-2007-05-08.html

Funny isn't it how he defended holding people without charges, even U.S. citizens, and even torturing some, but bitches if his wife and business associates are being investigated a bit longer than he likes.

[Jobu]

You're comparing the detention and interrogation of terrorists with the FBI trying to find out if a former congressman's wife did enough work at a political action committee to warrant her pay?

Dude, you are really grasping here.

[Durandal]

Who said anything about terrorists.

*chuckle* Grasping? In this day and age the $hit drops so close to the tree its easy to pick fruit.