Free Republic

So, what exactly are the federal criminal allegations against Tom DeLay? Well, there aren't any. He participated in a golf junket? He says that he thought a nonprofit paid for it, as they often do. He flew on private jets? Is that unique for members of Congress, let alone a crime? Well, he flew on private jets frequently! That may be bad policy, but it doesn't make it a crime. Oh, his wife was employed by a nonprofit. So what? Many congressional families are two-income households. They work for nonprofits, companies, lobbying firms, and the government. And I'm sure I...

AUSTIN -- An appeals court on Thursday thwarted Rep. Tom DeLay’s latest effort to get his criminal trial back on the fast track, denying his attorneys’ request that the case be sent back to a lower court or expedited through the appeals process. >>>DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin said he will take the case to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the state’s highest criminal court, (100% Rep Judges - TAB) later Thursday or early Friday. <<< Prosecutors who brought money laundering and conspiracy charges against DeLay and two of his associates have appealed a judge’s partial dismissal of the criminal...

The conservative Free Enterprise Fund plans to fight two subpoenas from Ronnie Earle, the Democratic district attorney of Travis County, Texas, in connection with former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s bid to move his trial out of Austin – but Earle has yet to formally serve the Fund. The Fund’s lawyers last week received courtesy copies of subpoenas Earle plans to serve the Fund’s executive director and communications director, requiring them to appear at a Dec. 27 change-of-venue hearing. DeLay’s attorney has filed a pretrial motion to shift the trial from Travis County, which the defense alleges is too liberal...

The judge in the criminal case against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay apologized because the case has veered into "a very confused state" in a previously confidential e-mail to defense lawyers and prosecutors. Lawyers for DeLay included that and other e-mails by District Judge Pat Priest of San Antonio as part of their request that the state's 3rd Court of Appeals reverse a ruling by Priest and put DeLay back on track for a January trial on money-laundering charges relating to campaign spending in the 2002 Texas legislative elections. On Saturday, the judge announced that he'd canceled a Dec. 27 pretrial...

AUSTIN - Lawyers for U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay on Monday urged a Texas appeals court to help DeLay get a speedy trial, claiming that a long legal battle would disrupt congressional business. DeLay's hopes for regaining his post as House majority leader were dealt a setback Saturday when a judge put the congressman's trial on a money-laundering charge on hold pending the state's appeal of the dismissal of another charge. The Sugar Land Republican has been seeking a trial in early January in an attempt to clear his name before any leadership vote is taken by the Republican caucus when...

In the Matter of Ronnie Earle: I Accuse (Part I) Solomon L. Wisenberg - Attorney At Law November 14 & 22 ,2005 We live in the most powerful country in the world and America is arguably at the zenith of its historical strength. Our leading journalists and newspapers, the New York Times to the contrary notwithstanding, are celebrated as models of professionalism and sophistication. Many newspapers and television networks employ journalists with law degrees or at least with some modicum of legal training. Cable television networks devote a significant portion of their programming to trials and legal issues and one...

Lawyers for U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay asked the Austin-based Texas Third Court of Appeals Monday to put the trial of their client back on the fast track. On Saturday, District Judge Pat Priest canceled a Dec. 27 pre-trial hearing and refused to rule immediately on whether DeLay, charged with conspiracy and money-laundering, could be tried next month on just the money-laundering charge and without his co-defendants, John Colyandro of Austin and Jim Ellis of Washington, D.C. Priest wrote that he is temporarily giving up jurisdiction over the case pending an appeal by prosecutors. Earlier this month Priest dismissed a lesser...

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- A state district judge said Saturday he will not immediately consider separating two criminal charges against Rep. Tom DeLay to allow an early trial, another blow to the former House majority leader's hopes of regaining his post. Earlier this month, Senior Judge Pat Priest dismissed a conspiracy charge against DeLay but refused to throw out more serious allegations of money laundering. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle served notice Monday that he intends to ask an appeals court to reinstate the conspiracy charge. DeLay's attorneys had hoped Priest would separate the charges in an effort to...

Gerrymanders are as old as our republic, as Antonin Scalia pointed out in a 2004 Supreme Court decision on redistricting in Pennsylvania. >the courts have rarely overturned electoral maps drawn by partisan legislatures. But people keep trying,...re SCOTUS Texas redistricting acceptance. >raised hopes that the Supremes might finally enunciate a standard for how far is too far in rigging electoral district lines. >in almost two decades of litigation the Court has yet to find a case that justified intervention. Moreover, in 2004, four of the Justices....declared themselves ready to throw in the towel and escape from ever hearing another partisan...

AUSTIN - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's lead lawyer accused Travis County prosecutors Thursday of trying to do an end run around the judge so DeLay would be unlikely to get a trial before summer. District Attorney Ronnie Earle's office did not respond to a request for comment. Senior District Judge Pat Priest had set a hearing for Dec. 27 to hear motions on DeLay's request to be tried separately on a money-laundering charge and on Earle's request to halt the proceedings while he appeals Priest's decision to throw out an accusation that DeLay conspired to violate the election code. DeLay's...

- BEGIN TRANSCRIPT - RUSH: Folks, this is hilarious. The media is outraged that Bush would dare compromise the outcome of a fair trial by proclaiming in advance of the evidence that Tom DeLay is innocent. Of course, we're supposed to forget that during Monica, that during Paula, that during Kathleen, that during impeachment, every damn Democrat liberal in the world was running around proclaiming Bill Clinton's innocence and how he didn't lie -- and of course that wasn't compromising the outcome of anything. Sometimes, I am telling you, I detest these people. I detest, and that is why I...

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has subpoenaed two officials at the Free Enterprise Fund (http://www.freeenterprisefund.org) in connection with ads the conservative group has run criticizing him for his indictment of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R.-Tex.). The ads attacked Earle, who has a history of indicting his political enemies in both parties, comparing him to an attack dog. ( The TV spot was entitled "Bad Ronnie, Bad" (Attack Dog) that is being run in Austin, and other markets. FEF started airing the TV spot on October 12, 2005. Here's the video if you missed it - Funny. It...

AUSTIN - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's lead lawyer accused Travis County prosecutors Thursday of trying to do an end run around the judge so DeLay would be unlikely to get a trial before summer. Senior District Judge Pat Priest had set a hearing for Dec. 27 to hear motions on DeLay's request to be tried separately on a money-laundering charge and on Earle's request to halt the proceedings while he appeals Priest's decision to throw out an accusation that DeLay conspired to violate the election code. >>>DeLay's lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, said Earle's assistants took actions Thursday designed...

AUSTIN (AP) -- Rep. Tom DeLay's attorneys filed a subpoena Thursday seeking the testimony of grand jurors, including those who indicted the former House majority leader and those who rejected charges. DeLay's legal team wants to prove prosecutorial misconduct by District Attorney Ronnie Earle, who they say "shopped around" the campaign finance case against DeLay to three different grand juries before finding one that would indict DeLay on money laundering and conspiracy charges. State law prohibits prosecutors from attending grand jury deliberations, but the defense alleges that Earle unlawfully participated in the second grand jury's deliberations and tried to force...

Congressman's lawyer dismisses subpoena that may broaden the investigationWASHINGTON - The Texas prosecutor who obtained an indictment against Rep. Tom DeLay is now looking at connections between the former House majority leader and a defense contractor linked to the bribery of a California lawmaker. But the lawyer for DeLay criticized the potential expansion of the criminal investigation involving the Sugar Land Republican as a fishing expedition with a political motive. Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, subpoenaed on Monday records of California businessman Brent Wilkes and three Wilkes-controlled companies that made a political contribution to a Texas fundraising...

AUSTIN, Texas -- Prosecutors asked a judge Monday not to let Rep. Tom DeLay's trial begin while they appeal the dismissal of one of the three campaign-finance charges against the former House majority leader. If Judge Pat Priest agrees to a delay, it could be another blow to DeLay's hopes of regaining his leadership post. The Texas Republican was forced to step down under House GOP rules after being charged earlier this year, and he cannot regain his post as long as he remains under indictment. For that reason, he has asked for a dismissal of the case, or else...

Nothing shows a scheme existed, the defense says To get a conviction against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay and two associates, Travis County prosecutors will have to prove the men knowingly raised or converted corporate cash with the intent of getting around the state's ban on using such money in campaigns for elective office. DeLay's top lawyer, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, said prosecutors lack the evidence to prove any such scheme occurred. The road map for what prosecutors will need to prove to get a conviction in DeLay's case was clearly spelled out in a ruling last week by Senior District...

AUSTIN - The judge in U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay's criminal case said today he is unlikely to allow DeLay to be tried separately from his co-defendants or on only one of the two money laundering charges still pending against him. "It is unlikely that I will grant a severance of counts or even of defendants in the absence of a compelling reason to do so," Senior District Judge Pat Priest said in letter to lawyers in the case. He said he also likely will reject the request of DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, to try DeLay only on a...

AUSTIN - U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay is seeking a January trial on his money-laundering charge regardless of whether the Travis County District Attorney's Office appeals the dismissal of a related conspiracy charge. DeLay's attorney, Dick DeGuerin, on Wednesday asked a judge to separate the money-laundering charge from a charge of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. "We have a right to sever (the charges) and proceed. We want this done and over with as quickly as possible," said DeGuerin. Senior District Judge Pat Priest on Monday threw out a third charge of conspiring to violate the state election code, but...

DeLay Seeks to Split Charges To Get to Trial More Quickly Associated Press December 7, 2005 3:05 p.m. AUSTIN, Texas -- Rep. Tom DeLay asked a judge Wednesday to separate the two remaining charges against him and let him to go to trial quickly on one count. The Texas Republican is seeking a quick resolution of the charges so he can regain his post as House majority leader when Congress reconvenes in late January. House GOP rules prevent him from serving in the post as long he remains under indictment. On Monday, Texas Judge Pat Priest on Monday dismissed one...