King: Why we voted to protect DeLay if he's indicted [View All]

[leQ]

from the Des Moines Register:

...

After three to four hours of internal debate, and testimony from three former Texas judges and members of the Republican Conference, who argued, "You can indict a ham sandwich in Texas," it became clear that not just DeLay but speaker Dennis Hastert or any other leader could be summarily removed from a position of leadership by a purely politically motivated county attorney in any one of the thousands of counties in America.

Given the recent partisan bitterness, it was clear to me that we had a short-sighted rule that gives the automatic power to remove the majority leader of the U.S. Congress to a Massachusetts district attorney, for example. This takes the interference of the legislative branch of government by the judicial branch to another level.

Consequently, we amended the rule to automatically remove a leader from his or her position immediately upon conviction, rather than indictment. However, actions that bring shame upon Congress must be addressed immediately. The new rule states that, in the event of an indictment from any legitimate legal authority in America, including county attorneys, the steering committee must meet immediately to evaluate the relevant merits of the indictment and make a recommendation to the full conference as to what action, if any, should be taken.

(there's more)

it should be noted that king is iowa's representative who has embarrassed iowa countless times in the past with his ignorance and bigotry.