Washington – Rep. Tom DeLay stepped down temporarily as House majority leader Wednesday after being indicted for allegedly conspiring to use illegal corporate campaign contributions to elect Texas Republicans and help secure the GOP majority in Congress.
DeLay – a combative former pest exterminator from the Houston suburb of Sugar Land whose skills at corralling votes earned him the nickname “The Hammer” – was charged with one count of conspiracy to violate Texas campaign laws.
The grand jury indictment of DeLay, 58, one of the Republican Party’s most effective tacticians, was the latest in a series of blows to the Bush administration and the GOP-controlled Congress. It will feed the allegations of official wrongdoing and corruption that have distracted key Republican strategists in recent months.
DeLay replied to the news with a searing attack on Travis County, Texas, prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a Democrat. The indictment was “the all-too-predictable result of a vengeful investigation led by a partisan fanatic,” DeLay said.
“This act is the product of a coordinated, premeditated campaign of political retribution,” he said. “I have done nothing wrong.”
White House press secretary Scott McClellan called DeLay “a good ally and a friend” of President Bush.
“Our hearts and prayers go out to him,” said House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.
In Colorado Springs, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, a leading conservative activist, called the indictment a “trumped-up, political witch- hunt,” adding: “The extreme left has seized this chance to take a swipe at one of America’s leading advocates of family values.”
But in Austin, Earle told reporters that “our job is to prosecute against abuses of power. And our job is to bring those abuses to the attention of the public through juries.”
Of the 15 elected officials he has prosecuted as district attorney, Earle said, only three were Republican.
House Republicans elected Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri the GOP whip to temporarily take on DeLay’s duties.
“It’s not easy to fill the gap,” Blunt said. “I think, largely because of his effectiveness as a leader, he became a target.”
The indictment was the latest act in a long-running political saga that revolves around the 2000 census and the subsequent reapportionment of congressional districts. DeLay’s plan was to elect enough Republicans in the 2002 elections to take control of the Texas Legislature and stage a second reapportionment there.
The indictment charges that a team of DeLay’s advisers, and his political action committees, collected $155,000 from corporate interests, laundered it through the Republican National Committee and funneled the money to GOP candidates.
Republicans took control of the Texas Legislature and passed a new redistricting law. Texas Democrats had a 17-15 edge in Congress after the 2002 election, but Republicans now have a 21-11 majority.
The swing helped ensure that DeLay and the other House Republicans maintained their majority nationwide.
“Tom DeLay changed the face of Texas politics,” said DeLay’s attorney, Dick DeGuerin. “Ronnie Earle wants to destroy him because of it.”
But the grand jury foreman, William Gibson, told the Associated Press that “Ronnie Earle didn’t indict him. The grand jury indicted him.”
If convicted, DeLay could face six months to two years in jail and fines.
Two associates were indicted with DeLay: John Colyandro, the former director of a Texas political action committee formed by the congressman, and Jim Ellis, who heads DeLay’s national PAC. Both had been previously indicted.
Texas law bans corporations from making contributions to political candidates.
DeLay has already been reprimanded by the House ethics committee – formerly led by Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo. – for his role in the redistricting drama. In 2003, DeLay improperly pressed federal aviation officials to track down Democratic members of the Texas Senate, who had tried to halt the reapportionment process by fleeing the state and depriving the Republicans of a quorum.
DeLay also has been tarnished by a second corruption probe, being conducted by federal law- enforcement agencies, involving lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a longtime political ally who helped arrange overseas trips for the congressman. Last week, a White House aide involved in the probe was arrested and charged with lying and obstructing a federal investigation.
Meanwhile, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and colleagues are dealing with a federal investigation into whether administration officials leaked the name of a covert CIA operative’s name for political gain. And Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist of Tennessee is facing questions from securities investigators about his sale of stock in a family health-care business.
“Republicans in Congress are plagued by a culture of corruption at the expense of the American people,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
“I don’t think you can make such a broad characterization,” said McClellan, when asked if corruption was pervading Republican Washington. “There are some instances of individual situations, and we’ll let … the legal process proceed in those instances.”
