Jury Selection Begins for Tom DeLay's Money Laundering Trial

By Jeralyn, Section Tom DeLay
Posted on Tue Oct 26, 2010 at 08:23:00 AM EST
Tags: Tom DeLay (all tags)

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It only took five years to bring Tom DeLay to trial in Texas on state charges of money laundering and conspiracy. Jury selection begins today in Austin. In August, DeLay lost his bid to have the trial moved from the predominantly Democratic city.

From the Austin-American Statesman:

DeLay and two associates — Jim Ellis and John Colyandro — are accused by prosecutors of taking $190,000 in corporate money collected by a state political action committee DeLay started and illegally funneling it through the Republican National Committee in Washington to help elect GOP state legislative candidates in 2002. Under Texas law, corporate money cannot be directly used for political campaigns.

DeLay has one of the best attorneys in the country, Dick DeGuerin of Houston, who also is a good friend of mine. Dick says there's no crime and the charges are the result of a political witchhunt by former Travis County DA Ronnie Earle. [More..]

"If you can look at that indictment and figure out what it says was done wrong, you are a better man than I am," DeGuerin said.

This Austin-Statesman article from Saturday had a good recap of the facts at issue.

It sounds like DeLay, thinking he could talk his way out of an Indictment, has his previous lawyers arrange an "interview." He wanted to avoid indictment, because of the rule Newt Gingrich put in place, that any Republican indicted had to give up his leadership post. No way did DeLay want to be just an ordinary member of Congress:

In August 2005, with time running out on his criminal investigation because of the statute of limitations, Earle asked DeLay and his lawyers for a 30-day extension and suggested DeLay give his side of the story in a face-to-face meeting with prosecutors. DeLay agreed to the extension and the meeting. He reasoned that it was his best chance to avoid indictment, which he wanted to do at all costs.
That's because of a long-ago reform, championed by Gingrich when he became speaker of the U.S. House in 1995. Gingrich promised that any member of the Republican leadership would resign if indicted. It became a rule of the GOP House caucus, one that Democrats never adopted. That rule put