Just so everyone is on the same page about the charges against Tom Delay, here is an interesting item pointed out by the
Carpetbagger Report, which has Charley Spies ("coincidence" in that name huh Delay?), an ex-attorney for the RNC, discussing Tom Delay's "coincidence defence":
Prosecutors are expected to seize upon the testimony of one defense witness in the civil case, Charlie Spies, a former attorney for the Republican National Committee.
In one exchange during that trial, Spies was asked to add up a series of contributions that were made to TRMPAC and a series of contributions that the Republican National Committee made to legislative candidates in Texas. Both lists added up to $190,000.
"That was pure coincidence?" asked the lawyer for the Democrats, Cris Feldman.
"I don't think I'd use the word 'coincidence,' " Spies replied.
Spies, who could not be reached, acknowledged during his testimony that the donations from the Republican National Committee to the legislative candidates were unusually large. He said that happened when "people we care about" made the request -- and DeLay, he testified, would qualify.
My question for legal-eagle Kossacks is this: why aren't RNC officials also getting hauled off to get mug shots and to get fingerprinted if they were involved in this money laundering scheme?
Is it just because the "justice" department is run by Bush cronies? We don't know much but here's some lazy reporting of what I found:
The grand jury foreman defends the indictment after the Repub lie-machine kicked into high gear yesterday:
The 12-member grand jury that indicted U.S. Rep. Tom Delay, R-Sugar Land, faces scrutiny from critics who say they are lackeys for Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
Foreman William Gibson lives in a Northeast Austin neighborhood.
It's been his philosophy not to have his picture taken because he doesn't want to be harassed, Gibson said.
Gibson isn't really afraid of that. He did his duty and that bound him to look at Tom Delay as just another Texan accused of criminal conspiracy, he said.
"I like his aggressiveness and everything, and I had nothing against the House majority man, but I felt that we had enough evidence, not only me, but the other grand jury members," Gibson said.
Grand jury foreman William Gibson defends the vote of the grand jury that indicted U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay.
The grand jury foreman also takes great exception to accusations that he and 11 other grand jury members followed the lead of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle instead of following the evidence.
"It was not a rubber stamp deal. It was not an overnight deal. If we needed extra information, it was provided to us," Gibson said.
On Wednesday, Earle would not go into details about any potential evidence against Delay. But he did describe the scheme he's accusing Delay of coordinating.
"The indictment describes a scheme whereby corporate money, which cannot be given to candidates in Texas was sent to the Republican National Committee where it was exchanged for money raised from individuals and then sent to those Texas legislative candidates," Earle said.
Gibson thinks there is enough evidence to convict Delay.
"We would not have handed down an indictment. We would have no-billed the man, if we didn't feel there was sufficient evidence," said Gibson.
The evidence is there to prove Delay was involved in wrongdoing and also prove that he and his fellow grand jurors acted independent of political influence, Gibson said.
"It wasn't Mr. Earle that indicted the man. It was the 12 members of the grand jury," Gibson said.
Gibson is a former sheriff's deputy and a former investigator for what is now the Texas Department of Insurance.
Oh and this is interesting if you haven't heard about this:
DELAY: Ronnie Earle does this to all his political enemies. He did it to conservative Democrats. He did it -- and he does it to Republicans. And particularly in my case, he did it in conjunction and working with the Democrat leadership here in Washington, D.C.
BLITZER: Well, that's an explosive charge you make, that there was some sort of collusion or conspiracy between Ronnie Earle and Nancy Pelosi and other Democratic leaders in the Congress. What evidence, if any, do you have to back that up?
DELAY: It's very good evidence, that they announced this strategy publicly, they put it on their website and this strategy is in their fund-raising letters.
BLITZER: Who specifically -- who announced this?
DELAY: The DCCC, the Democratic Campaign Committee, run by Chairman Rahm Emanuel.
BLITZER: They announced that they were working with Ronnie Earle to get you an indictment?
DELAY: No, they didn't do that.
BLITZER: What evidence is there they consulted with Ronnie Earle, that they talked to him or they had any dealings with him whatsoever?
DELAY: That evidence is coming. But the point is, they announced the strategy, and it's very funny that two weeks ago, when Ronnie Earle said publicly that I was not part of the investigation, that I hadn't been investigated, and then turns around in two days -- over the weekend -- he now is going to indict me. It is quite obvious, because the Democrats announced this strategy. And we all know how this place works. I'm sure they worked closely with Ronnie Earle on this strategy.
BLITZER: When is the evidence going to be made available? You say it's coming. When are you going to make that evidence available?
DELAY: When it's timely.
BLITZER: What does that mean?
DELAY: When it's timely.
BLITZER: All right. Well, we'll have to wait and see for that evidence.
Riiiiiight.