Former House member who filed DeLay ethics charge not surprised by new rev

[MelissaB]

Former House member who filed DeLay ethics charge not surprised by new revelations

2/28/2005

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

The former Democratic congressman who filed an ethics complaint against House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) told RAW STORY Monday he wasn’t surprised about new revelations that DeLay enjoyed $134,000 in travel at the expense of a group which uses “scare” letters targeted at senior citizens to raise money.

“I can’t say I’m terribly surprised,” Bell said.

Bell’s complaint filed against DeLay in 2004–which accused DeLay of illegally soliciting and accepting campaign funds and abusing his office to redistrict Texas–resulted in the House leader being admonished by his Republican colleagues. The Texas Democrat was subsequently rebuked by the GOP-controlled Ethics Committee for including “innuendo, speculative assertions or conclusory statements” in his complaint.

Bell was forced out of Congress last year due to a DeLay-engineered redistricting plan.

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“Such an investigation would reveal other matters that probably had not come to light such as this,” Bell said. “My feeling for quite some time has been that Tom DeLay is individual who is willing to thumb his nose at rules and the law to get what he wants. This is just another example of that kind of conduct.”

More: http://rawstory.com/news/2005/index.php?p=137