DCCC FILED A RICO ACTION AGAINST DELAY [View All]

[No Exit]

... a couple years ago! Josh Marshall was asking what had happened to the suit.

"DeLay in the Time of RICO
Posted: 1/26/06

By Bob Bauer

Reflections on a Lawsuit

A few days ago, Joshua Micah Marshall at http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007477.php reminisced about the RICO suit filed by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee against Mr. DeLay, some of his closest associates and various organizations operating under his effective control. Marshall is interested in how the suit was received at the time. He recalls that it was "laughed off the political stage," a stinging assessment but not far from the truth. The following, one account of the party and press reaction to the suit, is prompted by the questions Marshall asked: " had the nub of what the operation was about. What happened to the case? And what was the reaction at the time from the established press worthies?"

First: what happened to the suit? After DeLay and his co-defendants attempted but failed to obtain a quick dismissal, the case was settled, with DeLay offering a representation that organizations within his network would not raise and spend $25 million in undisclosed, improperly raised funds on the 2000 Congressional elections. In filing the suit, DCCC had made clear its intent to prevent DeLay’s use of extortionate fundraising and sham tax-exempts to establish a shadow political operation able to function outside existing rules and law. Once that purpose was fulfilled, the further prosecution of the suit was unnecessary. And the organizations in question did not figure prominently in the 2000 elections.

Second: what was the political response to the suit, from press and members of the party? Much of it was the expression of horror at the purported ugliness of the suit, which was denounced as little more than a naked example of the politics of personal destruction. Some Members of Congress—Democratic Members of both the House and the Senate—called to complain to the DCCC and to Chairman Kennedy, and a number of them, questioning the legal basis for the suit, were referred to counsel. Explanations of both the goal and substance of the suit did not seem to put the troubled, reproachful questions to rest. One Democratic Member demanded a meeting, in person, and interrogated the undersigned for well over an hour, demanding to know the process by which counsel had secured authorization for the suit. Spread before him were xeroxed copies of the statutes and cases on which we had relied, apparently provided by a member of the staff who attended the meeting and glared disapprovingly throughout the inquisition.

There were gratifying shows of support for the action. DCCC Chairman Kennedy and House Democratic Leader Gephardt did not waver. Senate Democratic Leader Daschle, aware of the adverse reactions, requested a briefing so that he would be prepared to answer questions from colleagues, and then, fully satisfied with what he learned, he assured the DCCC of his support."

(snip)

http://www.moresoftmoneyhardlaw.com/updates/enforcement.html?AID=601

Guess what? People ridiculed the suit. PAUL BEGALA, of all people, wrote a scolding article about it! (Even though he's on our side, I admit that in my gut, I don't much like Begala...) And the attorney who filed the suit met with disapproval and criticism even from some (but not all) DEMOCRATS.

Who was right? Um... the suit was right. The people who were behind it were right. The suit outlined much of the filth we're now hearing about that little Bugman bastard! But almost no one would listen at the time.