Washington – A Texas judge’s decision to let stand a felony indictment against former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, has emboldened the congressman’s opponents and raised the likelihood that one of the architects of the House GOP’s rise to power will not be returning to the leadership, lawmakers said Tuesday.
Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt, R-Mo., sought to reassure members that DeLay would return to prominence, telling reporters he still believes DeLay will beat the charges before an election to replace him is necessary. If an end to DeLay’s case is in sight next month, members will not petition for a leadership shake-up.
But on Tuesday, opponents who have remained largely anonymous began to speak out.
“If it becomes clear in January that the trial is not going to start for several more months, I think there will be a call from members to hold elections,” said Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Ill. “We can’t simply muddle along with this interim arrangement and think we can accomplish the major things we want to accomplish. And we need to get this off the front pages of the newspapers for those members in close districts.
“It’s pretty clear it’s not going to be resolved in January,” he added.
Rep. Charles Bass, R-N.H., released a statement demanding that leadership elections be conducted as soon as possible: “The House Republican Conference should now elect a permanent leadership structure for 2006, so that we can move forward with a positive agenda that focuses on issues, not personalities.”
Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn., a longtime critic of DeLay’s ethical practices, lit into the Republican leadership as a whole: “Ethical leadership is the foundation of trust with our constituents, and my leadership is not hearing that.”
DeLay spokesman Kevin Madden said that lawmakers are “entitled to their opinion” but that the judge’s decision to throw out the original conspiracy charge against DeLay proved the congressman is the victim of a partisan prosecutor. “It’s been very clear that there’s a lot of support for Mr. DeLay to fight these charges,” Madden said.
The likelihood of a showdown next month over DeLay’s political future seemed to increase as House Republicans returned from a two-week break and assessed the damage from the mushrooming scandals.
During their absence, former DeLay aide Michael Scanlon pleaded guilty to bribery charges and promised to cooperate with a federal corruption investigation. Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, R-Calif., tearfully confessed to accepting millions of dollars in bribes from defense contractors with ties to several other lawmakers, including DeLay.
On Monday, a Texas judge dismissed a conspiracy charge against DeLay but upheld felony charges stemming from alleged money laundering in connection with the 2002 Texas election.
DeLay’s lawyers will move to have the remaining indictment tossed out on grounds of misconduct by Texas prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a Democrat.
