It's time for Tom DeLay to come clean with the American people, especially his constituents in Texas. But after all of the stunts that Tom DeLay and the Republican leadership have pulled, the House Ethics Committee is at an impasse.
Tom DeLay says he wants to get his ethics problems behind him. Well if that's true, then it's time for him to act. It's time for Tom DeLay and the House Republican leadership to break the logjam in the House Ethics Committee.
It's time to appoint an independent counsel.
Email Tom DeLay, Speaker Hastert, and House Ethics Committee Chairman Doc Hastings now, and urge them to appoint an independent counsel today!
Tom DeLay and Tom DeLay alone has the ability to resolve this ethics investigation. The House Republican leadership is reluctant to move without his approval, so for any progress truly to be made, Tom DeLay must act.
For months, House Republicans have obstructed Tom DeLay's ethics investigation. First, the Republican leadership removed the previous Ethics Committee Chairman, Joel Hefley, who led last year's probe that led to three separate admonishments of Tom DeLay. Then, House Republicans voted to change the rules, making it nearly impossible to launch new ethics investigations -- while allowing House leaders like DeLay to retain their posts even under indictment.
In recent weeks, new committee chairman Doc Hastings has sought to install his own long-time chief-of-staff as director of the Ethics Committee staff, despite rules that call for such appointments to be non-partisan. Not to mention that Chairman Hastings has his own tight links to Jack Abramoff, the lobbyist whose relationship with Tom DeLay is a prime basis for the ethics investigation. And two Republican members of the Ethics Committee have been forced to recuse themselves, due to contributions they made to DeLay's legal defense fund.
When it comes to Tom DeLay, the House Ethics Committee is clearly compromised, and it cannot discharge its responsibilities fairly or objectively on its own.
Sign my petition demanding an independent counsel for the Tom DeLay ethics investigation today!
There's a clear precedent for appointing an independent counsel in House investigations when the Ethics Committee is conflicted. An independent counsel was appointed for Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright in the 1980s, and another independent counsel was appointed for Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich in the 1990s.
If it's good enough for Jim Wright and Newt Gingrich, it's certainly good enough for Tom DeLay.
If Tom DeLay is truly innocent of these ethics allegations, then for the good of the people of the 22nd District and for the good of the Congress, it's time for him to get the investigation underway. And the only way to get to the bottom of this ethics investigation is to appoint an independent counsel, and to do it today.
Join with me and urge Tom DeLay to support the appointment of an independent counsel today!
http://ga3.org/campaign/independentcounsel
Sincerely,
Nick