Posted on 04/30/2003 11:35:24 PM PDT by LdSentinal
An aide to Rep. Martin Frost (D-Texas) has been directly implicated in the alleged theft of a congressional redistricting map for Texas.
The incident, as reported last week in The Hill, occurred after an April 10 redistricting hearing at the state Capitol in Austin. Scott Sims, an aide to Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick (R), noticed that materials belonging to him were missing from the hearing room -- including his personal leather folio and a draft redistricting map of Texas. The map, which the Republicans say was the only version, quickly turned up in Frost's office.
Republicans claim Sims' belongings were stolen by Democratic operatives, and the Department of Public Safety (DPS) in Austin is investigating. Among the evidence is a video captured by capitol security cameras that allegedly shows three men with what appears to be Sims' materials.
"A Democratic [state House] member was called in to look at the tape," said Bob Richter, spokesman for Craddick. "He identified one of the people -- they're calling him 'front right' in the video. Gerry Hebert is -- front left."
Texas officials close to the investigation say the man identified as "front right" is Jector Nieto, a congressional employee of Frost's. The Hill reported last week that Hebert, a redistricting attorney for Texas Democrats, was also identified as a participant in the alleged theft.
Frost's office has again dismissed the theft charges.
"Based on the various Republican stories we're hearing, the accusation that anything was stolen is a ridiculous one," said Tom Eisenhauer, a senior aide to Frost. "It's no secret that Jector was in Austin and attended the redistricting hearing, along with a lot of other Republican and Democratic staff. He may have even walked down some hallways," he said.
Last week, Eisenhauer told The Hill that the map "came from a Democratic source in Austin." He said no Frost employee was involved in the incident.
Nieto did not return calls seeking comment. He is listed as a district field representative for Frost. House records show the congressman has employed Nieto since May 1, 2002.
"We've got a continuing Republican conspiracy theory in an effort to divert attention from Tom DeLay's [R-Texas] secret redistricting plan," Eisenhauer added.
The House Majority Leader is taking an active role in the Texas redistricting process.
Eisenhauer directed The Hill to an article in which a Texas DPS spokeswoman said that a "video from the committee room . . . doesn't really show anything."
But Texas Republicans say the evidence that supports their theft claim is a videotape from a security camera in the hall outside of the committee room.
Those who have viewed the tape say that three men -- Hebert, Nieto and an as-yet-unidentified person -- are seen carrying materials from the hearing room. Sims has positively identified some of those materials as his own, they say.
"As we were watching the videos, [Sims] said: "That's my stuff," said Richter. "There were a couple of giveaways -- the rolled-up maps, the paperwork, the leather folio and a state of Texas directory. He said everything [being carried on the video] was arranged just as it was on the desk" in the hearing room.
Richter said Sims intends to pursue the case as a criminal matter.
"It's like you left your lunch on a park bench and came back and someone had taken it. You'd be pissed," he said. "This was theft, pure and simple. There's no intention to let this fade away."
Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman in Austin, said the matter is still under investigation. "We haven't pressed charges against anyone at this point," she said.
Mange declined to confirm the identities of the suspects.
The threats and taunts that have erupted from the alleged theft illustrate the acrimony that surrounds the redistricting issue in Texas.
After the state Legislature failed to reach consensus on new congressional district lines in 2000, it was deferred to a three-judge panel, which decided to leave the previous map largely in place. But Republicans claim those lines do not adequately reflect current GOP strength in Texas or the state's influx of Hispanics during the last decade.
In an opinion issued Friday, Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott (R) determined that congressional redistricting may move forward in the state Legislature.
"Texas legislators are entirely free to replace the court-ordered plan," he wrote, and "legislators should not flinch from their constitutional duty to enter the 'political thicket' of redistricting."
After Abbot's ruling, Republicans huddled to discuss the feasibility of drawing a new congressional map. "We're having some serious meetings that will determine the course of this thing," said Jim Ellis last week. Ellis heads up DeLay's leadership PAC.
Although the Texas House would likely approve a yet-to-be-determined map, its prospects in the state Senate remain problematic because of a virtually sacrosanct parliamentary procedure that requires two-thirds support. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in that chamber but would need to woo at least two Democrats -- likely minorities -- to achieve passage.
"Obviously, we need to get some [Senate] Democrats," said Ellis. "We definitely will have a majority, but the question is whether we can get to 21 [votes]. It's going to be close, that's for sure," he added.
The Republican strategy is to increase the number of minority districts while collapsing or diluting those districts currently represented by white Democrats.
Although the dozen or so maps now under consideration have not been made public, Democrats charge that the GOP is attempting to decrease the number of minority districts.
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