BREITBART – A Texas grand jury on Wednesday charged Rep. Tom DeLay and two political associates with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme, forcing the House majority leader to temporarily relinquish his post.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.
“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,” DeLay said.
I’ve never been a huge fan of DeLay. He has been accused several times of abusing his power and misuse of federal agencies. However we shouldn’t pre-judge Rep. DeLay, this is just an indictment not a conviction.
Again, THIS is just an indictment, NOT a conviction. DeLay has not been charged for what he has been accused of for quite some time. District Attorney Ronny Earls, who has been after DeLay for years, charged him with conspiracy. Why? Because it is easy to convict someone of and he probably doesn’t have any dirt on what he really is suspected of.
Before you liberals get your panties in a wad, don’t forget Congressman William Jefferson (D – LA) . On August 3, the Congressman’s house was raided because of his vehicle. More recently, Jefferson abused his power by getting several National Guardsman to personally rescue him from Hurricane Katrina.
The Smoking Gun has the court filing.
Speaker of the House, Dennis Hassert has suggested Rep. David Dreier (R – CA) to replace DeLay:
BREITBART – GOP congressional officials said Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., will recommend that Rep. David Dreier of California step into those duties. Some of the duties may go to the GOP whip, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri. The Republican rank and file may meet as early as Wednesday night to act on Hastert’s recommendation.
The left-wing smear machine is in full swing and attacking Rep. Dreier:
RAW STORY – A Republican congressman from California who has repeatedly voted against gay rights measures is said to be gay himself, and at least three MediaNews Group newspapers are said to have instructed its reporters not to ask questions about the congressman’s sexuality or how it relates to public policy.Brad Smith, Dreier’s chief of staff with whom he is said to have lived, is paid an unusually high salary relative to the chief of staffs of other powerful congressmen, including Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert.
After RAW STORY ran an article suggesting that Congressman David Dreier, R-CA, might be gay, Hustler Magazine revealed that they planned a major expose exploring the conflict between the congressman’s sexuality and his positions on gay rights.
UPDATE: Reader Brad sends in Ronnie Earle’s track record against Conservatives and Republicans:
v Senator Kay Bailey Hutchisonv Conservative Democrat Bob Bullock (when he was Comptroller – later he was Lt. Governor)
v Democrat Attorney General Jim Mattox
Ronnie Earle’s three year political vendetta against Rep. DeLay has been marked by:
v Illegal grand jury leaks,
v A fundraising speech by Earle for the Texas Democrat party that inappropriately focused on the investigation,
v Misuse of his office for partisan purposes, and
v Extortion of money for Earle’s pet projects from corporations in exchange for dismissing indictments he brought against them.
California Conservative linked with Democrats Demonizing DeLay
Scared Monkeys Back To The Basics linked with DeLay Indicted - Blogworld is in an uproar
Reaganites Unite! linked with Delay Indictment A GIFT to Republicans!
Outside The Beltway linked with Bloggers React to DeLay Indictment
Unpartisan.com Political News and Blog Aggregator linked with Lawyers for DeLay fear indictment
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2:03 pm [ Quote ]
Lawyers for DeLay fear indictment
A Texas grand jury?s recent interest in conspiracy charges could lead to last-minute criminal indict
2:21 pm [ Quote ]
Whenever a prosecutor cannot prove the main charge he/she wanted to make, the default charge is conspiracy. Why? It is easy to prove! 2-3 people talk about something potentially illegal, one of them unknown to the others takes actions based on that conversation and everyone party to the conversation is guilty of conspiracy and subject to the same penalties as the original charge would have imposed. It is often used, as in this case, for partisan, political purposes.
The Republicans gave into pressure and allowed the Democrats to impose a rule that if a Congressperson was indicted for a crime, they were to be treated as if they were already proved guilty and lose any leadership positions they held. This is not only a direct violation of the innocent until proved guilty concept of law, it imposes punishment without giving the person indicted a fair chance to defend themselves. It is thus: If you are a Republican and are accused or indicted you are guilty and are to be punished for a crime for which you have not been found guilty. I must add this rule never existed when the Democrats were in the majority.
The Democrats hated Delay, a fellow-traveler prosecutor in Texas aided and abetted their assault against Mr. Delay by bring an indictment for a default crime, and then by their rules the accused has been declared guilty, suffered punishment, and even if later fond innocent, the Democrats have succeeded in getting rid of a many who beat their damn brains out at every turn.
2:22 pm [ Quote ]
However we shouldn’t pre-judge Rep. DeLay, this is just an indictment not a conviction.
then, ummmm, shouldn’t you offer the same consideration to those Aruban boys suspected in Natalee Holloway’s disappearance?
2:26 pm [ Quote ]
Paul, I do. I don’t put bias in my posts on that subject. I normally just post the facts …
Note: I deleted the part you quoted because I wanted to take it out.
2:30 pm [ Quote ]
Bloggers React to DeLay Indictment
There has been a veritable blogswarm over the DeLay indictment.
From the Left:
Chris Bowers: “The Repulican Noise Machine is going to push the ‘partisan politics’ line on this one hard. I am already seeing people on CNN and MSNBC …
2:35 pm [ Quote ]
Paul: You did not address your comment to me, but I happen to agree that by our system of justice in America, we are to absolutely assume innocence until and after guilt has been proved in a court of law. That applies to the guys in the Aruba case, O.J. Simpsom, Michael Jackson or anyone, even though in many of these cases everything I read seems to indicate their guilt and I want to assume it to be true, I think every American should resist those temptations and assume “absolute” innocence until the legal system proves otherwise! Even though I despised everything about Clinton, I refused to assume his guilt and even now the only crime he has been proved to have committed is perjury, that’s all!
3:06 pm [ Quote ]
Delay Indictment A GIFT to Republicans!
Ronnie Earl, the Democratic Travis County prossecutor, has just given congressional Republican’s the biggest GIFT on Earth! Conservatives have been getting very upset with their own. In fact the sounds of long knives being drawn were all over.
6:49 pm [ Quote ]
[...] The Political Teen: Tom DeLay Indicted [...]
8:36 pm [ Quote ]
Democrats Demonizing DeLay
Just in time for Halloween.
When the news broke this afternoon about Tom DeLay’s indictment, we made a prediction — or, better said, a statement of the obvious: the MSM would waste no time to cover this story in a feeding frenzy unlike we…