Imagine being so crooked that you have to maintain a legal defense fund that holds hundreds of thousands of dollars for years. Tom DeLay’s legal defense fund has been going for as long as he has been House majority leader. The 22-year veteran of Congress, under scrutiny for his dealings with "Casino Jack" Abramoff, a lobbyist being investigated for stealing from his clients, is finding the support from his Party more rhetorical than financial these days.
His whole career has been made on solicitation of bribes. No matter how you shake it, this is what it is. He became a powerful leader of the GOP by identifying which corporate interests he could serve, finding out how much money they were willing to give for his services, and funneling this glut of cash to loyal Republicans.
According to the Associated Press, DeLay’s legal defense fund raised five times fewer dollars in the first three months of this year than it raised in the same period last year.
Despite his shrinking legal nest egg, DeLay’s critics have raised concerns that the Republican Party’s star fundraiser is using his legal defense fund to peddle influence.
Did Republican members of Congress from Florida who are worried about the political fallout from the offshore drilling components of the recently passed Energy Bill pay thousands into DeLay’s defense fund hoping for favorable amendments? Did energy companies pump cash into DeLay’s legal defense and reelection campaign funds to advance their interests in this mammoth giveaway and pork barrel bill?
According to public documents, DeLay spent $34,000 on attorney’s fees since the beginning of this year alone.
In addition to a shrinking defense fund, DeLay personally borrowed $100,000 in March from a bank in Houston to prop up his reelection campaign fund and to pay campaign debts.
DeLay is trying desperately to shrug off charges that he improperly accepted all-expenses-paid trips to the UK, Russia and South Korea from his long-time friend, campaign donor, and shady lobbyist Jack Abramoff and other lobbyists looking for influence in the US government.
Recently publicized documents show that the airfare for the UK trip was charged to a credit card issued to Abramoff. Other extravagant expenses were paid for by another lobbyist friend, Ed Buckham, increasing the concern that DeLay broke House rules prohibiting members from engaging in activities that appear to be solicitation of donations, influence peddling, conflicts of interest, and other improprieties, not to mention illegally accepting money from a lobbyist in exchange for favorable attention to business pending in Congress.
The revelation of these credit card statements comes after DeLay publicly stated that Abramoff did not pay for the UK trip, rather that it was paid for by a non-profit organization. That non-profit received a donation of $50,000 from Abramoff just before the opulent jaunt to the English countryside.
Abramoff also contributed $40,000 personally to DeLay’s reelection campaign in 2004 and helped finance DeLay’s so-called "K Street Project" to eliminate Democratic-oriented lobbyists from DC firms.
DeLay has also been confronted with charges that he used skyboxes owned by Abramoff to solicit funds from potential campaign donors who had business pending in the House, which, by the way, DeLay happened to lend his vote to. A vote that, according to the Houston Chronicle was worth $66 million to Abramoff’s clients.
Public documents also showed that DeLay has paid two family members over $500,000 since 2001 from campaign funds he controls.
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DeLay is under investigation for accepting corporate donations funneled improperly to the campaign funds of other Republican Party candidates, a scheme that is illegal in Texas. Publicly available documents showed that DeLay was personally involved in soliciting these funds from corporate donors for his political action committees, something he had previously denied.
DeLay has already been rebuked three times by the House ethics committee – unanimously – for improprieties ranging from abuse of power to allowing the appearance of improperly soliciting funds from corporate donors in exchange for favorable votes on business pending before Congress
His whole career has been made on solicitation of bribes. No matter how you shake it, this is what it is. He became a powerful leader of the GOP by identifying which corporate interests he could serve, finding out how much money they were willing to give for his services, and funneling this glut of cash to loyal Republicans.
He has so far refused to allow an open, impartial and thorough investigation of his financial dealings and relationships with lobbyists.
His only defense thus far has been to blame a vast left-wing conspiracy and to sidestep the issue by attacking judges, Democrats, and the media.
DeLay’s record makes him one of the most corrupt politicians to have darkened the halls of Congress. He simply lacks the credibility to hold his position, for when could his constituents or any of us have confidence that he isn’t using his power to enrich himself, his family, and to line the pockets of his close friends?
In fact, can we even be sure that members of his Party aren’t more loyal to him personally because of the cash he provides than to their own constituents?
There are no principles behind this type of wheeling and dealing. Let’s not try to fudge his activities by saying he's done whatever he's done for his political beliefs. It is a greedy power grab that undermines the democratic process and disgusts most Americans.
--Contact Clara West at pa-letters@politicalaffairs.net.
