Posted on 05/08/2007 7:01:16 PM PDT by Jean S
Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) is calling on the Justice Department either to drop its investigation of his wife and former political associates or else to bring charges quickly.
DeLay said he has given the FBI documents exonerating his wife, but an associate of the former lawmaker said that agents have followed up with a fresh round of subpoenas.
The inquiry appears to be focused on determining whether DeLay’s wife, Christine, earned her pay from two organizations controlled by Ed Buckham, a lobbyist once closely affiliated with the former Republican leader, according to sources interviewed by federal investigators. Several former employees of the groups have received subpoenas for documents, some in the past few weeks.
DeLay told The Hill that he gave the FBI documents and computer records proving his wife was a legitimate employee of ARMPAC, a fundraising committee, and Alexander Strategy Group, a lobbying firm once controlled by Buckham.
The Justice Department’s persistence shows it has run amok, DeLay says, echoing a charge leveled last week by Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) in response to reports that he is under federal investigation.
“They’re not going after me,” DeLay said of the FBI. “They’re going after other people and they’re questioning the other people about whether they know anything I may have done. And we’ve given them all the records and that’s the problem they’re having.”
DeLay said the evidence shows that his wife did not accept improper payments: “She did her work and she was underpaid for the work she did and they can’t make the case. It’s a Justice Department that is running amok. Fish or cut bait. Do something.”
Speaking after a meeting with former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) on Capitol Hill, DeLay said, “We have cooperated with everything. We’ve given them everything, including computers; they’ve taken computers that I had here. They’ve gotten everything that’s got anything to do with my life.”
Seeking to deflect DeLay’s wrath away from Justice, his lawyer, Richard Cullen, said his client was exasperated by an unrelated case in which a grand jury indicted him on money laundering charges arising from actions at a Texas fundraising committee.
“When Tom DeLay said that [about Justice], it reflected frustration that many people feel when they are involved in an investigation,” said Cullen. “In Tom’s situation, most of the frustration centers around the Texas case, which is dragging on and on. We are very comfortable that the Justice Department is proceeding properly and expeditiously.
“I am also very confident that when they complete their investigation they will determine that no member of the DeLay family acted outside the law. I’m very confident of that.”
DeLay said neither he nor his wife is the target of the investigation. But sources contacted by the FBI or familiar with the probe say Christine seems very much in the agency’s sights. The FBI has asked former ARMPAC and Alexander Strategy Group employees what work Christine DeLay did.
“They were really focused on Christine DeLay and whether she was doing anything that would warrant her salary,” said one person contacted by agents.
The Washington Post reported that Buckham’s lobbying firm, Alexander Strategy Group, paid Christine DeLay a monthly salary of about $3,300 between 1998 and 2002.
ARMPAC, DeLay’s leadership political action committee (PAC), which was also tied to Buckham, paid her and her daughter, Dani DeLay Ferro, about $350,000 in consulting fees and expenses between 2001 and 2006, according to the Post.
Buckham employed ARMPAC’s executive director, Jim Ellis, as a consultant at Alexander, and staff of the two organizations shared an office building in Georgetown. Former DeLay associates described Buckham as a leader at ARMPAC.
The FBI has subpoenaed Ferro and investigators have questioned former DeLay associates about her work for ARMPAC. But the focus is mostly on Christine, sources say. Ferro refused to comment.
One source familiar with the investigation said federal officials have given immunity to at least one senior member of
DeLay’s political circle who may now be cooperating with investigators. Former associates of the majority leader say investigators are apparently attempting to indict DeLay for corruption by proving that Buckham sought to influence him with unearned payments to his wife.
Buckham’s lobbying firm represented corporate clients such as Amgen, Time Warner, United States Telecom, Defense Technologies, BellSouth, Nextel, UPS, Lilly, and the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America. Before Buckham became a lobbyist in 1998, he was DeLay’s chief of staff. The firm has since closed amid allegations of unethical conduct.
A person still close to DeLay said a wealth of evidence proves Christine played an important role at ARMPAC and deserved her salary.
“There are dozens of people who will demonstrate that Christine DeLay was a central cog in DeLay’s political world and was a, if not the, key adviser of ARMPAC,” said the source. “No major decision affecting DeLay was made without Christine being the protector.”
Christine DeLay approved the content of fundraising letters, her husband’s fundraising schedule, and the hiring of new employees, the source said.
Testimony and memos showing that Christine played an active role at the PAC are likely to be an important part of the DeLays’ defense if they are charged.
The investigation of DeLay became known last April when his former deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, plead guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery. Rudy worked for Buckham between 2002 and 2004.
Court documents said Rudy collaborated with Buckham and another former DeLay aide, Michael Scanlon, to arrange favors.
I guess DeLay should have taken FBI cash and stuck in his freezer. Who in hell is in charge at the FBI anyway? Does Gonzales have his head up his a$$?
DeLay forgot to call the investigators racist.
If the FBI would spend a little more time investigating the real crooks like Jefferson they wouldnt have so much time to screw around with Delay.
Why dosnt Bush put his foot in Gonzales’s ass.
“Does Gonzales have his head up his a$$?”
Y E S !!
______________________________________________________
"Many conservatives burrowed within the Department of Justice have long complained that Gonzales has permitted career government employees and hold-overs from Democratic Administrations to remain in perches of power and thereby water down conservative directives from the top. As one conservative and Federalist Society member in the Justice Department told me: “This is definitely not Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department, I assure you. You have holdovers from Clinton calling the shots in a lot of places here.” "
______________________________________________________
I hate to say this, but the buck stops with George W. Bush. This is HIS Justice Department, and it is one of the most corrupt in history. Bush's inability (or unwillingness) to clean up the corrupt-to-the-core Justice Department, the rogue CIA, and the Euro-socialist State Department are the biggest disappointments of this Presidency.
The sad thing is if Gonzales allowing political holdovers, that means Ashcroft did too.
Gonzales, Ashcroft - - who cares?
Like I said, the buck stops with Bush.
He's toast....Keyword: FORMER House Majority Leader.
The federal fascist bureaucracy is infested with left wingers who believe big government is the answer to all the world’s ills. These leftists will focus their hatred and consequent attacks on anyone who believes in individual liberty and ownership of private property. Government jobs attract the most virulent, radical left wing Marxist fanatics that have ever walked American soil.
People don’t realize that the criminal fascist bureaucracy has declared war against certain groups of Americans. These people are our enemies and should be treated as such, in thought, word and action. We are re-living 1775.
I enjoyed the Editors Comment to this article at The New Media Journal. It reads as follows:
Editor’s Note: Hmmm...the Justice Department gives passes to Hillary Clinton for perpetrating the biggest case a campaign finance fraud in US history, Sandy Berger for stealing and destroying unique documents from the National Archives having to do with terrorism and drag their feet on $90K found in Rep. William Jefferson’s freezer, yet they hound Tom Delay and indict and convict Scooter Libby. If I didn’t know any better I would suggest that eight years of the Clinton’s placing mid-level management at Justice is paying off for the Democrats.
[http://www.newmediajournal.us/politics.htm]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.