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A Texas court ruled Thursday to overturn the conviction of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), who was found guilty of money laundering in 2010. According to KHOU 11 and the Associated Press, the Third Court of Appeals in Austin said the case's evidence was "legally insufficient to sustain DeLay's convictions," formally acquitting the former congressman on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice told KVUE sister station KHOU 11 News.

For five years, the case against Tom DeLay for money laundering through his Texans for a Republican Majority PAC has been seemingly trapped in the Texas courts facing pre-trial appeals. On November 1, it finally made it to trial and today the verdict is in: guilty on both money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The slightly-less-than-humble DeLay lost his majority leadership in Congress after the indictment came down, but he has maintained his claims that this case was politically motivated throughout the entire process right up to defense attorney Dick DeGuerin's closing arguments. The jury clearly didn't buy...

Jurors considering the political money laundering case against former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Tuesday delved deep into the evidence, but asked so many legal questions that the judge warned them that they were getting off track... DeLay had with him a copy of Empire of the Summer Moon, a recent nonfiction book about the Comanche people and their famed chief, Quanah Parker, and a TouchPoint Bible that allows readers to find Scripture relevant to their lives. "No demons, nor angels nor DAs can keep you separated from the love of Jesus Christ," DeLay said, playing off of...

Five years after former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay demanded a speedy trial on political money laundering charges, a Travis County jury is now determining his fate. The six-man, six-woman panel showed up at court Monday with a majority of the members dressed in black. They elected one of the women as foreman. And when they returned three times to the courtroom to ask the judge questions during their four hours of deliberation, they all looked away from DeLay. The jurors also were asking visiting Judge Pat Priest questions that indicated they were buying into DeLay's defense that no...

...Prosecutors contend that the former House majority leader used his PAC to illegally funnel $190,000 in corporate donations into Texas legislative races eight years ago. DeLay, who was spending Election Day in court, is charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He has denied any wrongdoing. If convicted, Delay could face up to life in prison... Ceverha said corporate funds had been gathered to pay for the PAC's administrative costs and not for candidates. ...The money helped Republicans in 2002 take control of the Texas House. That majority allowed Republicans to push through a congressional redistricting plan...

AUSTIN, Texas, Aug. 25 (UPI) -- Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, will be tried on money laundering charges in Austin, a Texas judge ruled Wednesday. The ruling came as part of pretrial hearings during which DeLay argued he should be tried in Houston, near his home, because the case involves election matters, the Austin American-Statesman reported. His attorney, Dick DeGuerin also argued DeLay could not get a fair trial in Travis County. "I know there's negative feeling about Tom DeLay -- and it's strong," Senior District Judge Pat Priest said, adding DeLay could get a fair trial nonetheless....

AUSTIN — Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Monday put the 5-year-old federal investigation into his relationship with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff behind him and turned his attention to an impending trial on Texas ethics issues. DeLay said federal prosecutors told his attorneys last week that he had been "cleared" of any criminal violations in their investigation of Abramoff. The formerRepublican lawmaker, who represented Sugar Land from 1984 to 2006, also said he is ready for up to three days of pre-trial hearings slated to start Aug. 24 in Austin on a state money-laundering charge related to campaign...

The politically charged decisions by veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California to force public trials by the House ethics committee are raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny over allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing than their white colleagues. The controversy over the cases and the prospect of the first simultaneous ethics trials for multiple members in more than 30 years mark the biggest challenge for the ethics committee’s and the House’s ability to police its own members since the mid-1990s, when then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) and leaders from...

Congress: Charlie Rangel's world The AP takes a long look at the personal side of Charlie Rangel and his relationship with other members of Congress: "His wife, Alma, warns him not to be naive about the glad-handling. 'You know,' she tells him, 'they're putting you on.' ... 'She says it's unseemly,' Rangel says of his wife's advice. 'I say, 'Suppose it's not real. As long as they keep saying these things until I die, what difference does it make?' But he admits, 'It's still painful. It's times like this when I have to reinforce the facts: I'm alive, I'm well,...

The Texas Democratic Party's executive director, Ruben Hernandez, has filed ethics complaints against Gov. Rick Perry over a house he bought in College Station. ..."For three years, the Governor failed to report over $200,000 in debt he owed on a house in College Station, as well as over $11,000 in rental income he received from the property," Hernandez said in a statement. Perry spokesman Mark Miner responded, "This is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the Democrat Party to cover for Bill White's ethical scandals, failure to release his tax returns and profiteering during Hurricane Rita when he was...

Here's today's list......

Labor leader Linda Chavez-Thompson won the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor on Tuesday, capturing 53 percent of the primary vote against two opponents. She now faces incumbent Republican Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the fall in a race that will be an uphill battle for the Democrat. Chavez-Thompson used her support from labor and Hispanic groups to establish a strong position in the race and also outspent her opponents - including former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle - by a substantial margin. Chavez-Thompson, 65, of San Antonio, is a former executive vice president of the AFL-CIO and a vice...

Former DA Earle running for Lt. Gov. By Kate Alexander | Friday, December 18, 2009, 06:36 PM Former Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is running for lieutenant governor of Texas. Earle, who retired last year after more than three decades as district attorney, filed paperwork with the Texas Democratic Party late Friday to seek the party’s nomination for the statewide office. The winner of the Democratic primary in March will probably face the Republican incumbent David Dewhurst next fall. At this point, Earle is the sole filer for the party’s nomination, but Austin deli owner Marc Katz is...

This is so potentially great, even greater than we thought it could be. For a while, ex-Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle talked about running for governor. That could have led to a November battle between Democrat Earle and Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, now running against Gov. Rick Perry in the GOP gubernatorial primary. Earle v. Hutchison would have been a rematch of the battle previously known as The State of Texas v. Hutchison, a long-ago criminal case in which Earle was The State of Texas and he wanted to send Hutchison to prison for up to 51 years. The...

No one would have guessed that Tom DeLay's next career move would involve dancing, so the announcement that the former House Majority Leader would be a contestant on the upcoming season of ABC's "Dancing With the Stars" raised the eyebrows of politicos everywhere. The network has now released some promo photos of DeLay with his dancing partner, Cheryl Burke. DeLay appears to enjoying his new role, sporting sweat pants and a shirt from his organization Rio Bend, which works to improve the nation's foster care system. His own slimmer waistline can be attributed to the personal trainer he's been using...

Former House Majority Leader Tom Delay (R-Tex.) will be back in the spotlight this fall, but not because of political involvement. The conservative Texan will be a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars." ABC announced this season's cast today on Good Morning America. DeLay will join the likes of singer Macy Gray, former supermodel Kathy Ireland, former NFL star Michael Irvin, and Donny Osmond. This should be….weird.

Is Congressman Murtha About To Become the New Tom DeLay? By Bill Pascoe | May 13, 2009 9:13 AM Is Rep. John P. "The P is for Power" Murtha about to become the new Tom DeLay? He will if Rep. Pete Sessions and the National Republican Congressional Committee have anything to say about it. DeLay, of course, became the face of Republican congressional corruption in the 2006 cycle. Though DeLay himself has never been convicted of anything -- and continues to maintain his innocence as federal and state prosecutions against him move forward at a glacial pace -- several...

Obama’s choice for Treasury secretary disclosed publicly Tuesday that he failed to pay tens of thousands of dollars in federal taxes from 2001 to 2004. Senate Democrats tried to brush aside the last-minute complication as a minor bump on an otherwise smooth path to confirmation for Timothy Geithner, who has been president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. After the underpayments were detected, Geithner paid back taxes and interest totaling $43,200.

Huffman takes Senate Dist. 17 seat in runoff By ALAN BERNSTEIN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle Dec. 16, 2008, 11:32PM 1 2 STEVE UECKERT CHRONICLE BuzzRepublican Joan Huffman defeated Democrat Chris Bell in Tuesday's runoff election for a Houston-area seat in the Texas Senate, setting a new high for the number of women in the 31-member legislative chamber. With votes from all precincts counted, Huffman, a former judge and prosecutor, had 56 percent against the former congressman and Houston councilman, according to results that will be made final and official in a few days. "I have my supporters and thousands of...