Grand juror: DeLay evidence is there

[RSchewe]

'Stacks of papers' support indictment, foreman says; U.S. Rep. says there's no case

09:00 PM CDT on Friday, September 30, 2005

By CHRISTY HOPPE / The Dallas Morning News

AUSTIN – Grand jurors were presented a load of evidence, including testimony and phone records, that led them to believe Rep. Tom DeLay should be tried on a conspiracy charge, the leader of the Travis County grand jury that indicted the congressman said Friday.

"It was not one of those sugarcoated deals that we handed to Ronnie Earle," William M. Gibson said.

He added: "Mr. Earle has stacks and stacks of papers – evidence of telephone calls from Mr. DeLay and everybody."

Mr. DeLay has said that Mr. Earle has no evidence to prove that he tried to subvert Texas election laws. The Sugar Land Republican's lawyers did not return calls seeking comments on Mr. Gibson's description of the grand jury proceedings.

The indictment stems from the activities of Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee created by Mr. DeLay. The group, known as TRMPAC, is accused of trying to circumvent Texas laws that make it illegal to use corporate or union money in political campaigns.

Labeling it a money laundering scheme, Mr. Earle says that TRMPAC took $190,000 in corporate donations and routed it – along with the names of seven Statehouse candidates – to the Republican National Committee in September 2002. The RNC then sent out $190,000 in contributions to those same seven candidates, who couldn't legally have accepted corporate money.

At the heart of the conspiracy charge against Mr. DeLay is whether he knew about the transaction. Experts on Texas law say that knowledge alone might be all that is needed for a conviction under state law.

Mr. DeLay, who stepped down as House majority leader when the indictment was issued Wednesday, and his lawyers say he knew nothing about the money exchange at the time it happened and that the indictment is a political vendetta against him.

But in the first public acknowledgements of what evidence against Mr. DeLay might exist, Mr. Gibson, a 76-year-old former sheriff's deputy and state insurance investigator, said there were ample indications of the congressman's involvement.

He said that Mr. DeLay provided the district attorney with a written statement that was given to the grand jury to consider but that Mr. DeLay declined to sign a sworn document or testify under oath.

Mr. DeLay "just gave a statement saying he did nothing. And he didn't know how that money got back down here and all that stuff," Mr. Gibson said. "We believe different from other paperwork we got."

He added, "I am very much convinced that he had" knowledge of the transaction.

(emphasis added)

more...

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/100105dntexdelay.20c896f8.html

[mod mom]

1. Does the GOP really believe this man is innocent? Are they so blinded

by the koolaid that they are incapable of thinking for themselves? Or are they compicit with the bugman?

[VegasWolf]

2. I don't believe they care whether or not he is GUILTY, just whether or

not he can be proved GUILTY.

[rfranklin]

3. Yes, it is a matter of what you can get away with...

that determines what's "good" and what's "bad."

And so far, they have gotten away with campaign finance fraud, looting the Treasury, waging an illegal war and violating the Geneva convention, stealing two elections and various other felonies. So why would they be troubled by this little wrinkle?

[Mz Pip]

4. Things have changed

It was the Republicans who helped bring down Nixon. There were a few principled ones back then. Now it doesn't matter what someone does, the wagons circle despite the sleaziness of the party. Doesn't matter. They protect their own.

HOwever, there is a point of diminishing returns on this. Tom DeLay will take his party down with him if he is convicted and those who supported him have the most to lose. It may be good for the Dems in the long run but our country really suffers when sleaze like DeLay can maintain the support he does.

Mz Pip
:dem:

[WCGreen]

12. Half the chuckleheads that are in the GOP caucus

couldn't find a dollar if it was tagged on the back of an elephant walking' down main street at high noon....


They are inept at fundraising....

Delay was very good at it, controled the purse strings and metted out cash to those who would be loyal and subservient to his agenda...

That's how he got to be the Majority leader....

They are loyal to him cause he control the cash...

That's it...

follow the money and you will find the power...

[Oreegone]

15. They drank the koolaid

They drank the koolaid and they are dead from the neck up.
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

[bettyellen]

5. kicked + nominated

[Liberal Veteran]

6. That grand juror is obviously a partisan hack with grudge against Delay...

Will the smearing of this good, caring, innocent man never stop?

:sarcasm:

[AuntieM1957]

7. Die Hard GOPers don't care if he's guilty

it's about their power, not their ethics.

They didn't really care about Monica blowing Bill, either. That was also about power, not ethics.

[RSchewe]

8. I would not really be concerned with what they think but instead be

hopeful that he can be taken out of that influential position for good. In other words take his hands off the controls.

[AuntieM1957]

11. worry about the hands they put in his place, then

don't think that the next one will be any better.

Lots of people in Houston want to see DeLay remain in power.

And that's not because they like him.

[LynnTheDem]

9. The papertrail...

Center for Public Integrity: The Paper Trail Behind Tom DeLay's Indictment;

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0929-14.htm

[murielm99]

10. Is it legal and ethical for Mr. Gibson to speak up about this?

I know his grand jury service is over, but a trial is still in the future.

I am assuming he knows, because he is a former sheriff's deputy. And perhaps Mr. Earle would have cautioned the grand jurors against speaking about the proceedings if it was wrong.

Either way, this worries me. It makes me uncomfortable. They are trying to smear Earle, and this man is defending what they did. But I hope DeLay does not find a way to use this to his benefit in court.

[karlrschneider]

13. He won't be a juror in the trial. The Grand Jury is a different entity

that only determines probable cause for indictment purposes. There isn't anything illegal or unethical about his comments as long as he wasn't under any prior restraint, by agreement or judicial order.

[emulatorloo]

14. kicking n/t

[Toots]

16. Well now that he has been indicted he will have to make a statement under

OATH. He has refrained so far from saying anything under oath. That is about to change. Now he is likely to Perjure himself as well. He is a Lying Thief piece of scum and I truly hope he gets jail time.

[Ishoutandscream2]

17. Wow, the Bugman with his hand on a Bible, swearing to tell the truth

What an image that would be!