The Republican Noise Machine is in full gear trying to protect their Fuhrer Tom Delay and you can download their Republican talking points here Download legal_analysis_in_a_nutshell1.doc
, here Download Ronnie_Earle_One_Pager.doc
, and here Download what_others_have_said_about_ronnie_earle2.doc.
Bastion of truth, The Washington Times, says Ronnie Earl is a partisian hack:
"The Travis County, Texas, prosecutor investigating Mr. DeLay has a history of using his office for partisan ends. The district attorney, Ronnie Earle, maintains that he has prosecuted more Democrats than Republicans in his career, but those who've been watching Mr. Earle work know better."
(Congressional prerogative, The Washington Times, November 19, 2004)
Well BOR has the lowdown on Kay Bailey Hutchison's indictment by Earl in the 80's and says that KBH was indeed...GUILTY! Shocking!
If you've been watching the coverage of the DeLay indictment today,
you've seen plenty of GOP talking heads whining about how mean and
partisan ol' Ronnie Earle is (on CNN you've also seen a mention of our
very own BOR!). To prove their point, they trot out the fact that he
once indicted Kay Bailey Hutchison--that sweet ol' girl--and lost the
case. This seems to prove that he's more interested in getting
Republicans than enforcing the law, but they are wrong.
11 years ago today, believe it or not, Ronnie Earle handed down
several indictments for destroying evidence and tampering with
government documents. In 1994 the Dallas Observer's Miriam Rozen gained
access to grand jury documents in the case against Kay Bailey
Hutchison. I can't find the article online, but I managed to find a
contemporaneous Texas Monthly article that quotes largely from the
piece. The testimony starts with employees, former coworkers and others
noting her abusive behavior around the office. She literally threw a
book at a subordinate and kept her office in a state of fear while she
was Treasurer. These employees testify that when she told them to start
destroying documents that showed her using state-paid staff, offices
and other taxpayer-funded resources for her own political activities,
they made copies behind her back.
These documents proved damaging, but a technicality through most of
the evidence out of the case. Many are still baffled by Earle's
decision to drop the case, a decision many felt he didn't have to make.
The judge, equally surprised, quickly selected and swore in a jury and
instructed them to acquit her, rather than simply dropping the case. As
a result, the charges died and most Texans have forgotten that Kay
Bailey Hutchison was a prime suspect in a large-scale political
corruption scandal.
Ronnie Earle had KBH dead to rights in that case, and a technicality
saved her from the slammer and let her rise through the ranks of the US
Senate (to the point that she is a possible candidate for President or
Vice President). He had her cold, just like he did the other THREE
Republicans he had indicted (as opposed to the 12 Democrats) so when
DeLay's defenders talk about that case, they are splitting hairs in the
name of defending America's most corrupt politician.