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Delayed DeLay Trial Underway in Austin [Politics]
Overshadowed by the state-wide (and nation-wide) sweeping GOP victories earlier this week, the trial of Tom "The Hammer" DeLay began Monday in Austin.
Mr. DeLay, House Majority Leader from 2003-2005 (and a "Dancing with the Stars" alum) was a central figure in the 1994 "Republican Revolution," when the GOP gained control of both the U.S House and Senate. He also had a hand in the Texas redistricting battles of 2003, which are tied to the current charges against him. The former-Congressman faces felony charges on money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, related to his political action committee's use of corporate donations to state campaigns in 2002.
The trial has been nearly a decade in the making and is intricately tied to federal and state politics. Here's a brief history. Mr. DeLay was indicted in 2005 by a Travis County grand jury on charges he helped funnel corporate donations directly into 2002 statewide campaigns through his Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee ("TRMPAC"). Direct corporate contributions are illegal under the Texas Constitution.
On Wednesday, jurors in the trial heard from several D.C. lobbyists on the amounts allegedly funneled through TRMPAC. $190,000 was the amount TRMPAC sent towards seven state House races in 2002; Republicans won all but one of those.
Mr. DeLay, from the onset of the trial, has declared his innocence. "Through ethic charges [in 2006], I even had a racketeering suit filed by the Democratic Campaign Committee. I have been found guilty of nothing," he stated [News 8].
Thursday, testimony was heard from Terry Nelson, Republican National Committee chief of staff in 2002. The Statesman reported Mr. Nelson testified a DeLay aide had approached him about swapping corporate dollars received by TRMPAC for an equal amount in campaign donations from the RNC.
He also stated that while such actions were the norm between the RNC and state political parties, that was not the case with political action committees such as TRMPAC.
Mr. Delay's trial is expected to last another two weeks.
In other news, former South Texas Democrat Rep. Kino "Mr. Ten Percent" Flores awaits the sentencing phase of his Oct. 27 conviction on multiple counts of tampering with evidence and perjury for his omission of information on required financial disclosure forms. That is expected to begin on Nov. 22.
