TOM DELAY NOT QUITE READY FOR CANONIZATION

Tom DeLay
24th Majority Leader of the United States House of Representatives

Tom Delay, the former Republican Congressman from Sugarland, Texas, is not someone one can remain neutral about, he has a strong personality and is not afraid of controversy. He, along with Newt Gingrich, was one of the most effective leaders the Republicans ever had in Congress. So effective, as a matter of fact, that he earned the undying hatred of left-liberals and the Democrats. It was inevitable he would be attacked on ethics charges, especially after he ramrodded through the redistricting of Texas congressional districts after the 2000 Census. Sure enough, the Democrats filed ethics charges against him on the federal level and the rabidly-partisan Democrat District Attorney in Travis County, Texas, Ronnie Earl, filed State charges against him. Knowing that he could not afford to do less than devote all his energies to fighting this double-pronged attack, he chose not to run for reelection to Congress.

Now comes the news of his vindication. POLITICO reports this morning that the Obama Justice Department has concluded its six-year long investigation of Tom Delay and have dropped all charges against him. It remains only for him to defeat Ronnie Earl's efforts to convict him of violating Texas elections laws.

Here is the POLITICO news item:

--“The federal investigation of Tom DeLay is over and there will be no charges,” Cullen told us. “This is the so-called Abramoff investigation run by the Public Integrity section of DOJ. There have been a series of convictions and guilty pleas since 2005. A campaign-related charge against him continues in Texas. In 2005, we [Delay's staff] voluntarily produced to the prosecutors over 1,000 emails and documents from the DeLay office dating back to 1997. Several members of Congress objected to producing official government records under Speech or Debate Clause concerns. DeLay took the opposite position, ordering all his staff to answer all questions. He turned over more than 1,000 documents, and several of his aides gave interviews and grand jury testimony.”