DeLay PAC Treasurer Violated Texas Ethics Law, Judge Rules
It’s a baby step, to be certain, but if it is indeed true that every journey begins with a single step, perhaps we should consider yesterday’s ruling against Tom DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) as a significant first step in the fight to oust Tom DeLay. After all, now it is a legally-recognized fact that DeLay’s TRMPAC violated Texas law. How long will it be before DeLay himself is indicted? We can only hope, eh? For now, though, I simply want to be able to savor this victory.
AUSTIN, Texas — The treasurer of a political committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay violated Texas election code by not reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions, a judge ruled Thursday in a civil case brought by Democratic candidates.
State District Judge Joe Hart, in a letter outlining his ruling to attorneys in the case, said the money, much of it corporate contributions, should have been reported to the Texas Ethics Commission.
This is not the small, understated matter suggested by that language. In fact, it involves a significant amount of corporate cash that was laundered through TRMPAC and funnelled to Republican candidates.
The ruling means Bill Ceverha, treasurer of the group, called the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, will have to pay nearly $200,000. It will be divided among those who brought the suit against Ceverha, five Democratic candidates who lost legislative races in 2002.
The Democrats who sued TRMPAC claimed Ceverha violated the state election law, designed to keep elections free from “the taint of corporate cash.”
The Democrats alleged that some $600,000 in corporate money was illegally used to influence Texas House races in 2002, the year Republicans won control of the House for the first time in 130 years.
Corporate money can be used by political action committees for administrative purposes in Texas, but it’s illegal to use it for direct campaign expenses. But Hart’s ruling dealt with the election code reporting requirements, rather than the law governing how the money was spent.
In fact, one could argue that TRMPAC’s trangressions is directly responsible for a good deal of the current situation DeLay finds himself in. After all, Texas Republicans used TRMPAC’s money to achieve a stunning electoral sweep in the 2002 election. This gave Republicans control of the Texas House, which allowed them to engage in a rare mid-decade Congressional redistricting, which resulted in a strong Republican majority in the state’s Congressional delegation this past November.
Who says crime doesn’t pay?
In typical Republican fashion, their apologists are trying to deflect responsibility by using the “sour grapes” defense- Democrats were so angered over losing in November, 2002 that they are using the courts to exact their pound of flesh.
Terry Scarborough, a defense lawyer for the committee, said the case was more about Democrats’ anger over losing than about the actions of DeLay or of Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick. The plaintiffs in the lawsuit had sought to tie both men to the activities of the political committee, run by DeLay associates.
Nice try, Terry. The reality is that a Texas judge found that TRMPAC was in direct and deliberate violation of the state’s campaign finance laws. How much more crystal clear does the judge have to be for you to admit that TRMPAC broke the law?
Given DeLay’s direct involvement with TRMPAC, it’s logical to wonder how long it will be before prosecutors will be able to directly tie DeLay to this saga of graft and corruption. With any luck, Howard Dean’s dream will sooner come true, and Tom DeLay will go to jail.
Be still, my foolish heart….
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