Posted on 09/28/2005 11:43:06 AM PDT by alessandrofiaschi
Ronnie Earle is at it again. The partisan Democrat District Attorney from Travis County (Austin), Texas, has, because of a quirk in the Texas law, the peculiar jurisdiction over statewide political issues, and he has persistently abused that authority over the past decade.
Earle became ignominious in Texas when he launched the politically motivated investigation of three of Tom DeLay's associates working for Texans For a Republican Majority (TRMPAC). This investigation has not produced any credible or compelling evidence of corruption, but it is widely cited by the left as evidence that DeLay is dirty.
In the ongoing controversy over whether he is an objective voice for justice or merely an arm of the DeLay-hating mob, Earle has "hammered" the final nail in that coffin.
According to The Houston Chronicle, Earle has now crossed the line into raising money for far-left interest groups:
A newly formed Democratic political action committee, Texas Values in Action Coalition, hosted the May 12 event in Dallas to raise campaign money to take control of the state Legislature from the GOP, organizers said.
Earle, an elected Democrat, helped generate $102,000 for the organization.
In his remarks, Earle likened DeLay to a bully and spoke about political corruption and the investigation involving DeLay, the House majority leader from Sugar Land, according to a transcript supplied by Earle....
"It may help Tom DeLay establish his case that Ronnie Earle's investigation is a partisan witch hunt," said Richard Murray, a political scientist with the University of Houston.
"It clearly fuels the perception that his investigation is politically motivated. It was probably not a wise move," said Larry Noble, a former Federal Election Commission lawyer who heads the watchdog group Center for Responsive Politics.
Earle has a history of vicious partisan hackery:
EARLE'S LAST FORAY INTO politicized prosecution in 1993 turned into a huge embarrassment when he went after Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), who was then Texas Treasurer. Earle made a series of trumped-up charges, including that the demure Hutchison had physically assaulted an employee. Earle dropped the case during the trial.
Defenders of Earle like to point to the red herring that Earle has prosecuted Democrats, as well as Republicans, over the years. What they don't mention is that those Democrats were clearly guilty of serious violations (the cases were open and shut), and those prosecutions happened decades ago, when Texas was essentially a one-party state (controlled almost entirely by Democrats).
The real issue here is a failure on the part of Democrats to cope with the loss of political power they held in Texas (and elsewhere) for so many generations. Because Democrats have been so ineffective at the ballot box, and because DeLay is, in part, responsible for that failure, he must be destroyed.
Ronnie Earle, by invoking DeLay's name in the raising of money for far-left Democrat interest groups, has shown his true colors; he is indeed a partisan prosecutor out to get DeLay, and those who claim otherwise are deluding themselves.
All this proves is that if you are a conservative Republican politician in Texas, you are a target for Ronnie Earle.
Why does this little worm keep getting elected, anyway? Is Travis County so full of dimlibs that they can't elect an honest man?
As justification for altering party rules in the House of Representatives in order to allow Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) to retain his leadership position if indicted by a Texas grand jury on political corruption charges, Republicans have claimed that Travis County, Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who is investigating DeLay, is doing so for purely partisan reasons. This charge was dutifully echoed on FOX News Channel, and most other news outlets have reported it -- without noting that Earle has, in fact, prosecuted more Democratic politicians than Republican politicians.
While Earle is an elected Democrat, as Media Matters for America has previously noted, a June 17 editorial in the Houston Chronicle commended his work: "During his long tenure, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has prosecuted many more Democratic officials than Republicans. The record does not support allegations that Earle is prone to partisan witch hunts." This assertion supports Earle's own claim about his record; a March 6 article in the El Paso Times reported: "Earle says local prosecution is fundamental and points out that 11 of the 15 politicians he has prosecuted over the years were Democrats."
Nonetheless, DeLay has accused Earle of "trying to criminalize politics and using the criminal code to insert himself into politics," while Representative Henry Bonilla (R-TX) has referred to Earle as a "partisan crackpot district attorney." FOX News Channel commentators and reporters echoed this Republican line of attack against Earle:
Network and cable news outlets and several major newspapers also reported the charges leveled by Republicans against Earle without noting that Earle has, in fact, prosecuted more Democratic politicians than Republican politicians:
More interesting details here:
“Dollars for Dismissals” - Ronnie Earle dropped charges in exchange for cash to pet cause.
National Review ^ | June 20, 2005 | Byron York
http://www.nationalreview.com/script/printpage.p?ref=/york/york200506200910.asp
The Earle of Injustice" makes one of his most unethical moves yet (Texas)
TexasGOP.org ^ | 07/12/05 | Chairman Tina J. Benkiser
Posted on 07/12/2005 7:06:31 PM CDT by SwinneySwitch
A recent National Review article uncovered that Ronnie Earle, Travis County District Attorney, dismissed charges against four of eight companies being prosecuted for corporate donations in Texas. In exchange for dropping the charges, Earle insisted that the companies make $100,000 contributions to an organization in Stanford that wants to keep corporations from being involved in the political process, despite their First Amendment right to do so. While all the companies in question maintain that their actions were legal and that they would be exonerated in court, Earle convinced them that the contributions would be less costly than a long drawn out court battle.
Chairman Benkiser said, “In an ongoing vendetta against Texas businesses and Republicans, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is abusing the very justice system he has sworn and is paid to protect. Demanding that Texas businesses make payments to his pet political causes in return for protection from his prosecutorial abuses reeks of an old-fashion shakedown. It appears that Earle is not as interested in keeping businesses out of the political arena as he is benefiting from them. How his actions have escaped the scrutiny of investigators is a mystery, and Earle needs to resign.”
The most interesting aspect of this is the Texas’ media’s failure to report on this development.
Action Item: Call your local paper and ask why they have not reported on this matter! Read the National Review article
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1441525/posts
PING!
Flashback to an article printed a year ago..........to revive your memory................Julie
The Dan Rather, Bill Burket connection to Travis County & Erles' partsan activities:
American Spectator
Texas Smear Machine Targets DeLay
By Peter Flaherty
Published 9/23/2004
If nothing else, you have to give Travis County Democrats credit for thinking big, like real Texans. Apparently undaunted that the assault on President Bush's National Guard service blew up in their faces, they are now trying to bring down House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
All roads in the CBS memo scandal traverse Travis County. Dan Rather was the special guest at a 2001 fundraiser for the Travis County Democratic Party, and his daughter is active in the organization. Former National Guardsman Bill Burkett, the unstable Bush-baiter, who now claims he was the source of the forged documents, is represented (and many believe directed) by David Van Os, the former Travis County Democratic Party chairman.
Now Travis County district attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat with a history of bringing politically motivated indictments, has indicted three DeLay aides who ran a political action committee called Texans for a Republican Majority PAC.
Continued here:
http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=7151
yes
I thought the judge threw it out.
Is there a way to remove Earle from office? Get him disbarred?
Ding ding ding! It's it amazing how things come together?
Dan (Rather) Wants Second Go At Bush! (Still Insists Memogate Story Is True!)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1492766/posts
Yes......DemonRATs Serendipity in action!
Austin is in a very liberal county. The dims love him. Why would they even WANT to vote him out?
I am just thinking - do the Texas Statutes allow for the prosecution of an abusive DA like Earle?
Judge Napolitano says that Delay is charged only with agreeing to funnel Texas corporate money to the national committee and back to Texas..I am listening to Hannity rip Earle...(I just turned on the radio and heard the news.I think I heard the Judge right))
I HATE this.
Thanks for that history writeup. I see that Earle has indicted more dimlibs than Republicans, and I will start looking to discover the outcomes of those pursuits. As the charge against Sen. Kay B Hutchison was dropped, it's intriguing to wonder how many of the charges against the dimlibs were dropped as well.
Since he has been doing this for so long, I don't guess so.
I'm in Delay's district.
Wanted me to call Tom's office and tell him I wanted a time-table on getting troops out of Iraq.
So he's not a Democratic hack, he's a liberal hack.
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