Tom DeLay sought to jail those who filed ethics complaint

[roguevalley]

http://www.bluelemur.com/

By John Byrne | RAW STORY Editor

A somewhat overlooked section of a letter issued by the attorney for House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) sought to place those who wrote and filed the ethics complaint against him in contempt of Congress, which could have resulted in jail time, RAW STORY has learned. The 33-page October letter was penned by DeLay's private attorney, Ed Bethune. It contains a litany of suggestions for punitive action to be taken against those who filed an ethics complaint against him, and has 118 footnotes on nine pages.

The complaint resulted in DeLay being admonished by the Ethics Committee on three separate occasions, which the House leader brushed aside. House Republicans have also moved to protect DeLay by passing a provision which will allow him to continue to serve as leader if he is indicted in a campaign finance scandal that took place on his watch in Texas. DeLay's attorney, instead, finds that those who filed the complaint, former Rep. Chris Bell (D-TX) and the Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, acted with 'contempt for the law' (emphasis in original).

SNIP!

Judicial Watch chief Tom Fitton said the complaint would never succeed, seeing it as a desperate attempt for DeLay to save face. The group, which by and large supports a Republican agenda, has been critical of DeLay's attempts to insulate himself from ethics charges.
"It's just not serious," Fitton said. "They don't have any jurisdiction. This is a man who was admonished three times for ethics violations and this is his flailing about, it's not terribly becoming."

"It was Tom DeLay who was admonished on three separate instances on three separate issues," he added. "It's really a silly response to a serious issue." The danger of such an attempt, Fitton says, is that it deters outside groups from participating complaints about their representatives ethical transgressions. "No outside group could talk to any individual congressmen about ethical transgressions by other congressmen," he said.

For her part, Sloan invites libel or slander charges from DeLay on the complaint she wrote. "If he thought that I was slandering him or libeling him, he could sue me, which he hasn't done," she said. "I'd be ecstatic if he'd sue me. But you won't see Tom DeLay taking that case to court. No lawyer would take that case."

SNIPPAGE!

"All that says to me is that they must be afraid of me, and I must be onto something," she added. "Tom DeLay is a criminal. I'm a former prosecutor, and I'd be happy to prosecute Tom DeLay on what I know today."

For view of the letter, click on this:

http://rawstory.com/images/pdfs/Bethuneletter.DOC

[Richardo]

1. "Being called vindictive and partisan by Tom DeLay ...

...is like being called ugly by a frog."

Travis County DA Ronnie Earle, Feb 2004.

[LaPera]

2. "Being called vindictive and partisan by Tom DeLay ...

is a badge of honor to me!!!!

[Justitia]

3. He's just trying to emulate his buddy Rove, who jailed his opponents

See Bush's Brain.

That inhuman parasite locked up 2 men in TX for 2 yrs who had the nerve to challenge him politically. Rove is very, very proud of that.

Tommy's just jealous.

[talk hard]

4. Keep it up Tommy-Boy ...

You'll be put down just like McCarthy was.