The AP’s Larry Margasak has the story.
A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, an indictment that could force him to step down as House majority leader.
DeLay attorney Steve Brittain said DeLay was accused of a criminal conspiracy along with two associates, John Colyandro, former executive director of a Texas political action committee formed by DeLay, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay’s national political committee.
GOP congressional officials said the plan was for DeLay to temporarily relinquish his leadership post and Speaker Dennis Hastert will recommend that Rep. David Dreier of California step into those duties.
Reuters is also reporting that DeLay is leaving the Republican Party leadership.
U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said he would “step aside” from his congressional leadership post following his indictment in Texas on Wednesday on one conspiracy count, his office said.
“I have notified the speaker that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County District Attorney today,” he said in a statement.
Even if DeLay eventually beats the rap, these are tough days to be a Republican, with an indictment of one leader and an insider trading investigation of another.
UPDATE:
—SEE THIS VIDEO and note the White House’s seemingly lukewearm backing of DeLay.
—Bull Moose predicts what means to DeLay and the 1994 Republican Revoution.
—Project Nothing has a great roundup.
–Jonathan Singer’s (author of this post) blog Basie has lots of updates so check HERE AS WELL.
—Michelle Malkin has alread started one of her comprehensive roundups, which also includes criticism about the prosector.
–The Washington Post reports that DeLay will paint this as a Democratic political vendetta:
Kevin Madden, a spokesman for DeLay, said the congressman would speak to reporters later today and offer a “full-throated defense” against the charge.
“This is a political vendetta,” Madden said. “They could not get Tom DeLay at the polls,” he said, apparently referring to the powerful Republican leader’s political enemies. “Now they’re trying to get him in court.”
–If he’s convicted, the penatlies can be stiff, reports the Austin American Statesman:
The charge, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years incarceration, stems from his role with his political committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, a now-defunct organization that already had been indicted on charges of illegally using corporate money during the 2002 legislative elections.
State law generally bars corporate money from campaign-related activity. DeLay and his associates have insisted the corporate money was legally spent on committee overhead or issue advertising and not campaign-related activity.
The grand jury took no action against Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick, Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond or state Reps. Dianne Delisi and Beverly Woolley, both of whom sit on the political committee’s board, for their roles in the election.
–DeLay’s “temporary” replacement is California Rep. David Drier
–Drier is now said to be out of the job it looked like he had and Americablog says it knows why.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.