GOP Texas Takeover Is Subject of (criminal) Investigation

[Newsjock]

From Saturday's Los Angeles Times. No link yet.

GOP Texas Takeover Is Subject of Investigation
By Scott Gold
(c) 2004, Los Angeles Times

AUSTIN, Texas -- Authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into whether corporate money, including hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, improperly financed the Republican Party's takeover of the Texas Capitol.

The probe is focused on several political and fundraising organizations run by Republican activists, investigators said. One of the organizations, the political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, has direct ties to DeLay, a Texas Republican and one of the most powerful politicians in Washington.

At issue is whether the organizations improperly used corporate contributions to help finance the campaigns of more than 20 Republican candidates for the Texas House of Representatives in 2002, according to documents and interviews with prosecutors and government investigators.

... Investigators said they suspect that the Texas group spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on telephone banks and other initiatives during the election -- projects, they said, that went beyond the administrative costs corporations are allowed to fund in Texas elections. The money, in effect, represented a direct contribution to Republican candidates, they argue.

more to come

[Dookus]

1. wow.....

let's hope!

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Tom Delay dong the perp walk

now wouldn' that be a dream come true

[pansypoo53219]

9. that IS

a special dream for me. to have his fat ass kicked out of congress and sent to JAIL.

[short bus president]

15. Oh gawd.

please never type the words "tom delay" and "dong" in the same sentence ever again.

;-)

[mouse7]

44. Frog March Delay! Frog March Delay!

We got 'dem all doin' 'da Frog March.!

[Democrats unite]

3. I think the dominos are in place and ready to fall!

All their dirty shit couldn't stay hidden forever.

[mrdmk]

4. The Republicans did not take over Texas politics

Big Money, Corporations and Fundamentalists did, and they found a door through the Republican Party.

[Military Brat]

10. Yes, but who are "big money", "corporations" and the "fundies"?

Republicans, my friend, Republicans.

[mrdmk]

25. To clarify the point

The few and the loud have taken over, this is not going to last!

[lastliberalintexas]

39. Fascists or Corporatists

The people we have running my state are not really repubs, which is why Bill Ratliff is retiring this year. A repub with an actual conscience can't stand the fascist SOBs who've taken over the Texas repub party.

And I almost feel sorry for the fundies. They are merely the foot soldiers, and their issues get mostly lip service. After all, abortion is still legal here. And the fundies even disagree with the fascists on many issues- they even banded together with trial lawyers, consumer groups and unions to oppose the tort reform bill passed by the Lege.

We really are seeing a melding of corporate and governmental interests that rises to the level of a political theorist's definition of fascism. (I'm not speaking of fascists for the Nazi-Hitler association, but as a real political ideology). The repub party in my state has been taken over by the corporate wing of the repub party, and it should be a warning to the rest of the nation of just how much worse things could be on the national scale. And will be if we don't get Shrub out.

[mrdmk]

46. Thank you lastliberalintexas for conferming my point

In the lovely state of California here we had have our own problems with corporations taking over. This was not pretty. It resulted in traffic accidents, multi-billon dollar loss of taxpayer’s money, a loss of business, people losing their jobs, companies moving out of the state and etc. All that happened was the electricity was purposely turned-off.

Then there is our governor and a media thing.

[Torrey Pines]

5. There should be a presumption of guilt

when you're talking about politics in Texas. ;-)

[TacticalPeek]

21. ROFLMAO!

[aquart]

6. "Authorities"? What "authorities"?????

Who is left outside this takeover to investigate????

[Newsjock]

7. Here's what the Times says

Republican leaders said they worked with attorneys who specialize in election law to ensure that their corporate money was used legally. They denied wrongdoing and point out that the force behind the investigation, Travis County, Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle, is a Democrat.

... Earle, who has been in office for 27 years, said he is aware of claims that the probe is motivated by partisan politics. But he said he has brought charges against 15 politicians over the years: Eleven of them, he said, were Democrats. He called the financing of the 2002 election ``the greatest threat to democracy I've ever seen.''

... Sources close to the investigation said that as many as 20 people, including several of Austin's power brokers, have appeared before two grand juries as prosecutors push for indictments. Most, including Hammond, have retained criminal attorneys. The sources said at least two people, including the former director of Texans for a Republican Majority, John Colyandro, have been granted limited immunity in exchange for testimony.

[Rose Siding]

16. Immunity already granted?

This sounds pretty serious. I'm on the verge of getting VERY VERY happy about this story.

Earle looks credible from this snip, huh?

[Desperadoe]

20. Texas, District Attorney Ronnie Earle

Wonder if he's related to Steve?

[LiberalTexan]

33. Ronnie Earle...

What else do we know about him, TX DUers? Since I'm still relatively new to Texas politics, I'd like to know more about him. It's nice to know that we've got some BALLS here in Texas-- unlike our so-called leaders in Washington who talk big at election time but don't put Bush to task.

Ronnie Earle being accused of partisan politics.....uh, DUH! Republicans aren't too bright, are they? Of course it's partisan. Haven't these people ever heard of checks and balances? It's called an opposition! What the hell is wrong with THAT? Bunch of big, friggin' cry babies...

[lastliberalintexas]

40. Actually Earle isn't that partisan

when it comes to the prosecutions by his office. He is the one who went after Jim Mattox and got an indictment (tho I think a jury acquitted him?), and Mattox is a big time Dem. Earle probably isn't perfect (he's human, after all), but he has shown a great deal of integrity in office.

If Earle goes after someone, you can bank on there being a reason. Not saying anyone is definitely guilty before proven so, but Earle isn't one to wage partisan wars in the guise of criminal prosecutions.

[joeunderdog]

38. Asscroft himself had similar "transgressions" during his campaigning.

They slapped his wrist and he slapped his knee.

[MariaS]

8. Delay

would make some lucky prisoner a wonderful Bitch.

[Military Brat]

11. Did you see Sexy Beast? Remember that black-haired bad guy?

That scene with him on all fours while the rich guy gave it to him? I said, "Gawd, he looks like Tom Delay!"

We can only hope, but so far he hasn't been hurt too much by the Westar scandal either.

[Zhade]

23. Yeah - and there are documents proving the Westar dealings.

Tom DeLay, getting De-Layed in prison by a group of large men - now THAT'S a late Christmas present!

[Lisa0825]

12. I just sent this out to a list of folks here in the Houston area...

and I used an old email "reply to all" to send it. I forgot to change the subject line. Funny thing is, it was still sooooooo appropriate. The subject line was PAR-TAY!!!!!! LOL! and that is what I'll be doing if that SOB ever gets what's coming to him!

[nini]

13. LOL

:evilgrin:

[Unforgiven]

14. Can't Wait!

Won't be soon enuf'

[are_we_united_yet]

22. Hopefully

there wil be NO DeLay. (sorry)

(Thanks for the setup btw :) )

[Wwagsthedog]

17. delay is a most objectionable form of profanity.

One way to help evict him.

http://www.takingontomdelay.com/

[Frodo]

18. Is this a good precedent?

I've just read what was posted here, so maybe I'm missing something...


... But if financing GOTV phone banks is automatically a political contribution, what happens to the tens of MILLIONS of dollars were getting from workers unions?

[lastliberalintexas]

41. No, what they did

was use actual corporate money for their mailings, etc. While a corporation's employees can donate to political matters, it is illegal to use the money of the corporation for any political reason in Texas. They could have funneled this money to the repub efforts in a different and entirely legal way, but they were either too arrogant or too stupid to do so.

[RainDog]

19. The Dong Show

reminder of the good ole days of Spring 03

you have to scroll a little down the page to get to this one, and more follow about the events at that time.

talkingpointsmemo from May 03 on the Texas mess.


http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/old/may0304.html

After the initial squall over the manhunt for the Texas Democrats, state Representative Lon Burnam -- a member of the Law Enforcement Committee -- filed an open records request for documents relevant to the Department of Public Safety's manhunt. After hearing news reports that files were being destroyed even after the issuance of that request, he filed a motion for, and eventually received, a restraining order barring further document destruction. Burnam also subsequently filed a motion to depose four members of the DPS.

In response to Burnam's request, the Texas Attorney General's office -- acting on behalf of the DPS -- demanded that Burnam reveal the names of his sources (i.e., those at DPS who had squealed) before any members of the DPS would be deposed.

"It is not possible," says the AG's filing, "to prepare for the preliminary injunction hearing or to prepare for the defense of depositions until Plaintiff identifies the source of the information that documents were allegedly destroyed after the receipt of the open records request on May 19th, 2003."

(A copy of the Texas AG's motion has just been added to the TPM Document Collection.)

[BuckeFushe]

28. The Texas Two-Step

This has been going on for some time, here are some older links to stories.

http://www.tpj.org/press_releases/itemized_trm.html

Contribution statement This one link shows how these pillars of political fairness cooked the books.

http://www.offthekuff.com/mt/archives/002758.html
<snip>
TRM fundraiser paid with corporate money
Remember how the Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, the one that helped elect a bunch of new Republicans to the state House so that Tom DeLay's redistricting do-over could be rammed through, claimed that they'd only ever used corporate money for overhead and not for campaign funds? Turns out that ain't necessarily so.

Texans for a Republican Majority has always offered a simple defense to allegations that it illegally used corporate money to help elect state legislators last year: No corporate dollars directly benefited candidates.

However, an Austin fund-raiser hired by the political action committee said that wasn't always so. Consultant Susan Lilly, whom the committee paid with corporate money, confirmed this week that she solicited, collected and distributed campaign donations in the name of individual campaigns for Republican candidates.

One-page documents that the committee gave to would-be donors at several fund-raising events, including ones headlined by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, said: "Contributions should be made to TRMPAC or directly to `(name of candidate) for State Legislature' and mailed to: 1005 Congress, Suite 310, Austin, Texas 78701." The address is that of Lilly & Co.

Separate documents were created for each of the two dozen campaigns that Texans for a Republican Majority was involved in. The briefings included an assessment of the race, the advantages of the Republican candidates and what the candidates needed to do to win. It also included an e-mail address for contacting the candidates.
<snip>

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/dispatch/2003-05-23/pols_feature4.html
<snip>
05/23/03

Six months after the Republican Party captured the Texas House of Representatives in a stunning election-night landslide, the question lingers: Was the victory fair and square?

Your answer may depend, in large part, on whether you're an R or a D. Republicans cheerfully acknowledge that their campaign umbrella groups procured millions from corporate benefactors, but insist that, as required by law, they kept corporate money separate from their direct political activities.

The PAC efforts were greatly responsible for garnering 26 House seats for GOP freshmen and were particularly generous with Austin candidates Todd Baxter and Jack Stick, winners in tight races. Former Travis Co. Commissioner Baxter defeated Democratic Dist. 48 incumbent Ann Kitchen, who faced two major disadvantages -- a newly drawn Republican district and a flood of GOP money. After beating Democrat James Sylvester in narrowly Republican Dist. 50, freshman Stick was rewarded with a coveted appointment to the all-powerful Appropriations Committee.

In all, 11 freshmen scored vice-chair positions on key committees from new Speaker Tom Craddick, who had House seniority rules changed to accommodate the appointments -- partly to promote inexperienced but loyal GOP reps to key positions and partly to bar experienced Democratic reps from the same seats.

Five major campaign organizations helped promote and underwrite newly minted GOP candidates. Public-interest watchdogs charge that at least two of the groups -- Texans for a Republican Majority and the Texas Association of Business -- may have illegally utilized corporate money to clinch control of the House.
<snip>

http://www.dailysentinel.com/hp/content/coxnet/texas/legislature/0303/0322tab.html

<snip>
2 granted limited immunity in inquiry over campaign ads

Saturday, March 22, 2003

Travis County prosecutors are reaching into the Capitol hallways as they investigate whether corporate money was used illegally to influence last year's legislative elections.

John Colyandro, the former executive director of the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, has refused to testify before a Travis County grand jury, invoking his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination.

Lara Laneri Keel, a former lobbyist for the Texas Association of Business, also has appeared before the grand jury.

On Friday, both were given limited immunity and ordered to testify. Keel's lawyer and Colyandro did not return calls for comment Friday night. By forcing Colyandro to testify, prosecutors might go down at least two tracks of questioning in the private grand jury proceedings.

They could investigate whether the business association illegally subsidized political activities when it gave Texans for a Republican Majority an ad created by the business association's public relations consultant.

Last month, Colyandro said he created the ad, although the business association's public relations consultant, Chuck McDonald, said he created it for his client. McDonald said Hammond told him to change the ad's logo from Texas Association of Business to the Republican Majority PAC before mailing it. Hammond has refused to comment on that. Keel, the other person granted immunity Friday, worked as a lobbyist for the business association through last year. She is the wife of John Keel, executive director of the Legislative Budget Board. John Keel is the cousin of state Rep. Terry Keel, R-Austin.

In giving Lara Keel limited immunity, the prosecutors wrote that the agreement is not intended to imply she committed any criminal offense.
<snip>

[Newsjock]

24. LINK TO FULL STORY HERE

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-finance3jan03,1,7968111.story?coll=la-home-headlines

(finally)

[murielm99]

26. Okay, I read the story, but don't get your hopes up.

They will probably just fine people, and bury the story on the back pages of the corporate whore newspapers.

[aQuArius]

32. Yes, all they'll get is a slap on the hand, if that.

[davidinalameda]

27. nothing will come of the investigation

the parties involved MIGHT get a slap on the wrist but I doubt it will go that far

money talks

[Rose Siding]

29. This snip made me optimistic-

"Sources close to the investigation said they are looking at several aspects of Texans for a Republican Majority's finances.

They said, for instance, that the group reported one batch of finances to the Texas Ethics Commission, but a different set of numbers to the IRS."
-----------------------------

Once IRS numbers are involved, stuff usually gets serious. And one guy already GOT immunity- that wouldn't happen if they weren't ready to bring charges.

[mbperrin]

30. Every time I'm reminded that there IS a Texas Ethics Commission,

I get the giggles!

Nobody giggles the IRS, though!

[BuckeFushe]

36. Read this damn link

http://www.tpj.org/press_releases/itemized_trm.html

It's black and white, they COOKED THE DAMN BOOKS.

[Blue_Roses]

45. El Paso Energy has the

highest kilowatts rate in the state in 2000.

[aQuArius]

31. Its about GAWD DAM time!

I could have told you this, I hope all of them go to jail.

[NoPasaran]

35. Don't hold your breath

At best I would hope for some fines and mild wrist slapping. Perhaps someone will have to write "I must not use illegal corporate donations" a hundred times on a blackboard.

[young_at_heart]

34. Texas wants to be a country of its own

They play by different rules in this state and are very proud of this fact. I still marvel that DeLay's background has not caused him to be voted out....do they even know his history?

[RainDog]

37. good riddance. let them take Bush and Baker and DeLay

and create The Christian State of Texas. let all the fundies migrate there to have their theocratic state, and leave the rest of us the hell alone to get on with actually building a democracy and rescuing this country from their corruption.

I hate these people with the same hatred the founders felt for the tyranny of the corruption of that other mad king george.

[ewagner]

42. I dunno raindog...

The Independent Christian State of Texas just might might find it necessary to invade the rest of us in the name of regime change !

[pinto]

43. Repugs say lawsuit "politically motivated"...well,

(from the article)

I think it is definitely politically motivated. And I think it is without merit," said Bill Hammond, a former Republican member of the Texas House of Representatives.

Hammond's business and lobbying organization, which is based in Austin and known as TAB, is another focus of the investigation. According to TAB's newsletter, it spent nearly $2 million to mail Texas voters 4 million advertisements that attacked Democratic candidates and supported Republicans.

Damn right it's politically motivated! And it's got merit. Repugs want to keep winning elections in the courts? Bring it on! The judicial tide is turning.

[David Zephyr]

47. Read It In the LA Times This Morning With My Coffee.

Tom Delay is the face of the Republican Party.