The judicial carousel in U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's conspiracy case almost spun out of control Thursday as the search for a judge beyond the hint of any political taint reached the chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court. Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, a Republican, named Pat Priest, a retired Democratic judge from his hometown of San Antonio, to hear the case — but not before Jefferson's own multiple ties to DeLay's political operation were questioned. Jefferson waved off questions about those ties Thursday afternoon as he searched for a judge to hear the biggest political trial in Texas for this...