Democrats Busted DeLay for Extortion and Racketeering in 2000

[Rose Siding]

What happened with this? From TPM:

snip>
Here's the introduction from the press conference Kennedy and DCCC legal counsel Bob Bauer held on May 3rd, 2000. Any of this sound familiar? Give it a read.

REP. KENNEDY: Good afternoon. Fifteen minutes ago, the DCCC filed an action in federal district court aimed at ending the massive illegal conduct by the House Majority Whip, Tom DeLay, in the raising and spending of millions of dollars for his political purposes. Mr. DeLay is, unfortunately, conducting these activities under the color of his office as he seeks, through the use of systematic -- systematic extortion to coerce the contributions of millions of dollars to Republicans and at the same time to intimidate those inclined to support Democrats.

Mr. DeLay is conducting these activities without public or legal accountability by raising and spending these monies through organizations he substantially or completely controls or directs -- organizations which refuse to publicly account for their finances. Mr. DeLay hopes to carry out this scheme without public knowledge.

We cannot tolerate this conduct any longer. This legal action intends to put an end to it. Federal law provides the remedy through the anti-racketeering statute known as Civil RICO. It is specifically directed at certain types of illegal conduct such as the extortion and money laundering which constitutes the thrust of our case against Mr. DeLay and his organizations. The law provides, and we are seeking, an injunction against any further illegal conduct of this kind, as well as damages for this conduct over the past few years.
<snip>
MR. BAUER.....The complaint sets out the very specific illegal acts, which are requirements for pleading under this statute. And the specific illegal acts again specified under the statute and under which we plead today, are extortion and money laundering: extortion, which goes to the way Mr. DeLay raises his money; money laundering, the way in which he avoids public disclosure and washes the fruits of his illegal fundraising operation through these unregistered organizations, which do not disclose the source or object of their expenditures.

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/007477.php

The whole presser is worth reading. Marshall asks:

"They called it what it was five years ago, racketeering and extortion. Certainly, they didn't have all the details figured out. And when you look at what's being investigated today, in 2000, heck, the fun was only really getting started in DeLayland. But they 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?"