Tom DeLay conspiracy dismissed

HOUSTON: A Texas judge dismissed part of a criminal indictment against former US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on Monday (local time) but upheld other charges that will put the powerful Republican lawmaker on trial for money laundering.

State Judge Pat Priest dismissed conspiracy charges against DeLay and two co-defendants, saying the actions were not a crime at the time DeLay was charged with violating them.

But Priest upheld the money laundering charges against DeLay, who was forced to step down as House of Representatives Majority Leader in September when he was first indicted for his role in the Texas campaign financing controversy.

Kevin Madden, a spokesman for DeLay in Washington, portrayed Priest's ruling as a legal victory for the congressman, who has denied any wrongdoing.

"The court's decision to dismiss a portion of Ronnie Earle's manufactured and flawed case against Mr. DeLay underscores just how baseless and politically motivated the charges were," Madden said. Earle is the prosecutor who brought the case in the state capital of Austin.

The charges are part of a widening political scandal around DeLay, who has been accused of several ethical violations in recent years and whose former top aide and press secretary, Michael Scanlon, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe public officials in a separate case in Washington.

In the Austin case involving his Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee DeLay has blamed what he calls a Democratic plot to oust him from power because he succeeded in advancing a conservative political agenda.

DeLay and colleagues Jim Ellis and John Colyandro are accused of laundering US$190,000 in corporate donations to the committee through the Republican National Committee for distributing to Republican candidates to the Texas Legislature in the 2002 state campaign.

Texas law forbids the use of corporate money in political campaigns.

The committee helped the party take control of the state legislature in 2002 for the first time since the late 1800s. Under DeLay's guidance, the legislature redrew congressional districts to increase the number of Republicans elected to Congress from Texas.

The DeLay team had been hoping for a full dismissal, which would have let him reclaim his leadership post and ended the matter long before the November 2006 congressional elections.

DeLay previously had asked for a trial as soon as possible.

Priest said the state has until Dec. 20 to appeal the dismissal and that he did not intend to set a date or rule on a request to move the trial out of heavily Democratic Austin until after prosecutors acted.

Earle's office said it had not decided whether to appeal and refused to comment on Priest's decision. DeLay also has another request pending for dismissal of the remaining counts based on a charge of prosecutorial misconduct.

Source: China Daily 12/07/2005 page7