Self-inflicted wound (Ronnie Earle investigates Tom DeLay and fund raises using DeLay)

District attorney's poor judgment in speaking at a Democratic fund-raiser provides an unintended boost for DeLay's defenders.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has spent the past year investigating corporate funds collected by political action committees connected to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. So far, a grand jury has indicted three of the Sugar Land representative's associates for violating Texas election laws.

Republicans have accused the veteran prosecutor, a Democrat, of conducting a partisan witch hunt. Earle's attendance and remarks attacking DeLay at a Democratic fund-raiser last week in Dallas damaged the credibility of his investigation with a stunning display of prosecutorial impropriety.

Earle was the speaker at a May 12 event sponsored by the newly created Texas Values in Action Coalition, a Democratic political action committee with the stated goal of winning back control of the Texas Legislature. The affair raised more than $100,000, and organizers credited Earle's presence with boosting attendance.

In his speech, the prosecutor talked about the corporate contribution case and took a swipe at DeLay. "This case is not just about Tom DeLay," Earle told the crowd. "If it isn't this Tom DeLay, it'll be another one, just like one bully replaces the one before."

Contacted after the event by the Chronicle's Michael Hedges, Earle didn't back off his comments. He provided a transcript of the speech, and said he would make the same statements again to any group that was interested in honest government.

Houston defense attorney Rusty Hardin represents Warren RoBold, a Republican fund-raiser indicted in the Travis County investigation. Hardin, a former Harris County prosecutor, finds it "incomprehensible" that Earle would go to a political event and discuss matters under investigation by his office. "I'm dumbfounded that he would give the DeLay people that kind of fodder."

Hardin doesn't believe that Earle's investigation is motivated by a bias against Republicans. Instead, he contends that the Austin-area district attorney goes after targets for behavior he finds objectionable, whether or not an actual violation of law occurred.

According to Hardin, he told Earle in a courtroom conversation that "you have a history of indicting people whose conduct you don't approve of and you want to stop. You leave it to your assistants to worry whether there's a criminal case involved."

Earle is an elected Democrat, so his attending a party fund-raiser is legal. However, it is inappropriate for a prosecutor to discuss a case under investigation in a political setting, or to single out a potential target of that probe for criticism.

The fact that Earle refuses to recognize his blunder and would do it again calls into question whether he has the necessary impartiality and judgment to conduct the investigation that to a great extent will determine whether Texas election campaigns will be financed and perhaps determined by corporations or by individuals.

Benkiser to propose resolution transferring funding, authority from Travis County D.A. Press Releases: March 1, 2004

AUSTIN – Republican Party of Texas Chairman Tina Benkiser said today that she will submit a resolution at the next quarterly meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee calling on the Texas Legislature to transfer funding and the authority of the Public Integrity Unit from the Travis County District Attorney to the Office of the Attorney General.

"It makes absolutely no sense for a local District Attorney to have such far-reaching authority, especially since it can clearly be abused for partisan purposes," said Benkiser. "No other District Attorney in the state is given such broad powers, and geography should not arbitrarily entitle one liberal prosecutor to a platform for launching vicious, partisan attacks."

Currently, state government allocates about $1 million in taxpayer money per biennium to the Travis County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, according to the Houston Chronicle (3/4/03).

"As the chief law enforcement officer for the State of Texas, the Attorney General is best positioned to carry out the duties of the Public Integrity Unit, whose main responsibility is to prosecute fraud cases on behalf of the state," said Benkiser. "Texas taxpayers would likely realize significant savings by transferring the Unit’s authority to the Office of the Attorney General."

"Additionally, the Attorney General is accountable to all the people of Texas, and not just the far-left wing of the Democrat Party that controls Travis County," said Benkiser.

Benkiser said she is also encouraging grassroots Republicans to submit similar resolutions to their precinct, county and senatorial district conventions so that the Party’s position may be incorporated into the 2004 State Platform.

The State Republican Executive Committee is comprised of one man and one woman from each of the state’s 31 senatorial districts, and is the governing body of the Republican Party of Texas. The SREC’s next meeting will be held March 19 – 20 in Austin. Resolutions passed by the SREC are statements of the Party’s beliefs and do not change state law.

The text of the proposed resolution follows.

SREC CALLS ON TEXAS LEGISLATURE TO TRANSFER PUBLIC INTEGRITY UNIT FROM TRAVIS COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY TO OFFICE OF THE TEXAS ATTORNEY GENERAL

Whereas, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has launched another baseless partisan witch hunt against Republicans under the guise of investigating the 2002 elections; and

Whereas, in the past, state newspapers have accused Earle’s office of "selective partisanship" (Houston Chronicle, 4/24/92); conducting investigations that are "politically motivated" (Dallas Morning News, 6/12/93), "horribly mishandled", on "legally shaky grounds" (HC, 2/12/94), and covered beneath a "partisan cloud" (HC, 6/13/93); using a "double standard" for Democrats and Republicans (HC 6/13/93); creating the "impression of partisan unfairness" by leaking information about Republicans (DMN, 9/28/93); and illegally releasing confidential grand jury testimony to the media (Dallas Observer, 6/23/94); and

Whereas, the investigative powers of the Public Integrity Unit are arbitrarily assigned to the Travis County District Attorney’s Office based solely on geography, and no other District Attorney in the state is given such authority; and

Whereas, the Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer in the state of Texas and is better suited to ensure the integrity of state government; and

Whereas, the State of Texas allocates nearly $1 million per biennium to the Travis County District Attorney’s Public Integrity Unit, and Texas taxpayers would likely realize significant savings by transferring the Unit’s authority to the Office of the Attorney General, where attorneys already are employed for such purposes; now, therefore, be it

Resolved, the State Republican Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Texas calls on the Texas Legislature to remove state funding for the Public Integrity Unit from the Travis County District Attorney; and be it further

Resolved, the State Republican Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Texas calls on the Texas Legislature to pass legislation transferring the authority of the Public Integrity Unit from the Travis County District Attorney to the Office of the Attorney General.

http://www.txgop.org/newsroom/newsDisplay.php?id=2702

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