Ronnie Earle is just a liberal activist DA abusing his power in the liberal bastion of Texas (Travis County). He would have never gotten an indictment in any other Texas county, but in Austin there are loads of "Weird" people.

This whole process is a sham and Ronnie Earle needs to be run out on a pole in the next election, but in Travis County he's like Michael Jackson hosting a boys club.

What goes around comes around though and I hope Ronnie faces the music when he is done and DeLay sues his ass off so he has to move in with Sheila Jackson Lee.

Hmmm.

Actually I think Earle has tried to indict with around 6 Grand Juries, but for different offenses. I don't say "crimes" because they might be crimes at all. Wierd situation.

What I think might be amusing in all this is that DeLay might be able to parlay this whole thing into even more political authority. While the rest of the GOP shows it has the spine of a flatworm, DeLay is out there. He might not be kicking ass, but he is really aggravating the right people. If this indictment by Earle implodes, as it really looks like it's going to, then DeLay is looking even better.

Hehe. DeLay might even consider a White House run or a Govenorship. No idea how many people would support it. But as the current potential slate of candidates is incredibly light on conservatives, DeLay might get on as either the President or VP.

I think it'll depend on how pissed off conservatives are with the GOP. The angrier they are, the more likely a DeLay Presidency run is.

I've got the doc. over here. Well maybe not here here, but I can get them. Ronnie get back with me.

DeLay's a freaking scumbag of the highest order. The man has been warned by the Ethics Committee on at least three ocassions but he thinks he's bulletproof. He may well be, due to his enormous war-chest of legal defense funds. Earle's a scumbag too, but smearing Earle does nothing to shed any light of innnocence on DeLay. I hope they both catch on fire.

Hmmmm.

"DeLay's a freaking scumbag of the highest order."

Who hasn't yet broken the law and hasn't ever done anything that other Republicans *and* Democrats haven't also done.

"The man has been warned by the Ethics Committee on at least three ocassions but he thinks he's bulletproof."

Frankly those "warnings" have very little value. But hey, you believe what you like.

MIKEY MIKEY MIKEY

If Delay has broken laws bring the evidence. You can't be suggesting that we indict people on rumor are you? And how shi%$#@ can Earle be if he can't find any evidence? I ain't so sure how Delay is bulletproof just because Earle has no evidence.

I agree that both Repubs AND Dems do what he's done ( which IS launder money-when you get money, funnel it through another entity and write a check out the other side, that's laundering--and yes, I realize both sides do it ). I'm not landing on the Dems side here, I think both sides are dirty. But, hey, if you've got the cash and can hire Deguerin, then you can get off. Guilty? Innocent? It doesn't really matter.
Are we to HONESTLY believe that the sort of cronyism that goes on is o.k. ( even if it's "legal" by the letter of the law? ) Why the hell do you think these corporations write checks to PACs? For fun? They expect favors in return in the way of legislation, and they get them. It's a freaking racket and someone should pay. I don't give a crap if it's DeLay or some left-wing Dem or whoever. The people who are supposed to be represented ( the voters ) get NO voice and the corporations get what they want because they hand over cash ( or, say, golfing trips to Scotland...)
Earle and DeLay are BOTH trash, but we've gotta
start cleaning up somewhere and frankly, I don't care who gets the axe because they're ALL guilty. Good men and women don't run for public office because the things it takes to reach the positions of power are not acceptable actions for good people.

Rule of Law!! Rule of Law!!

People that attempt to act like they know the facts and therefore can base their opinions on facts when they do NOT know the facts really irritate me.

JayTea said "Let's see: Ronnie Earle doesn't even represent DeLay's district, but under Texas law that doesn't matter."

Ronnie Earle is the District Attorney in Travis County. That county is about a 3 hour drive from Tom DeLay's home district.

Ronnie Earle ALSO is the Public Integrity Officer for the state of Texas.

Tom DeLay was involved in the money laundering that affected the election of additional Republicans to the Texas House of Representatives. Those additional republicans then agreed to re-open the redistricting of the state of Texas - a job that had already been done. That second redistricting carved up the state to create more Republican districts (including carving up the 4th largest city in Texas into 3 separate districts to dilute the voting power of the Democrats in that city, and denying that city a representative that has this city as his or her focus).

This was an alleged crime in Texas. People that were involved in that crime have been charged. The fact that Tom DeLay represents a district that is a 3 hour drive from Austin has NOTHING to do with this. He could live out of state and still be charged. His residence has NOTHING TO DO with the charge.

Ronnie Earle is tasked with keeping Texas state politics clean from misuse and abuse. He presented evidence to a grand jury, and they first indicted two of DeLay's best friends and longtime colleagues, and then voted to indict DeLay himself.

So, JayTea says "Let's see: Ronnie Earle doesn't even represent DeLay's district, but under Texas law that doesn't matter."

That's right. Under Texas law, it does NOT matter where you live or what House district YOU represent. If YOU are a political person who abuses the campaign finance laws of the state of Texas, then you SHOULD BE indicted, regardless of the district you represent.

Ronnie Earle is doing what he was supposed to do. His office is incredibly highly regarded.

How can anyone support the money laundering of $190,000 to influence an election? Regardless of WHAT political party did it - it's wrong.

oy!

All I akss for is evidence and I get inuendo. So far I'm hearing is he probably is guilty of money laundering, and this and that. Seems to me that all Earle is doin' is fishing. I don't think he gets paid to fish.

Just because some of the people who Tom Delay happened to do political favors for happened to be friends of his who also happened to give him lots of donations, doesn't mean he was selling off our government for personal gain.

Besides, everyone does it, no one has proven anything yet, he just misspoke when he said he did it, it was for a good cause, some of the people who got some of the money gave it back, and it may not have been technically illegal at the time.

You can't go calling something a crime just because some liberal prosecutor on a jihad gets some liberal Grand Jury in Texas to indict him and a liberal Texas judge to convict him. That's stretching that Rule of Law thing way too far.

If the most powerful man in Texas can be brought down by laws, what the hell are they good for?
With any luck, we can stretch this whole thing out til Miers gets confirmed, so it can get thrown out on a technicality 5-4 by the Supreme Court like the Florida thing. That would be real justice.

'That's right. Under Texas law, it does NOT matter where you live or what House district YOU represent. If YOU are a political person who abuses the campaign finance laws of the state of Texas, then you SHOULD BE indicted, regardless of the district you represent. '

That's what he said.

Do we all have to pretend we're completely fucking retarded so that it's "fair"?

Jesus Christ, you people sound like the personal injury lawyers you despise so much.

Colyandro and Ellis are knee-deep in the civil trial because these guys got CAUGHT. As in, CAUGHT. In the, oh crap I've really violated campaign finance law, way. Now their lawyers are back-pedaling like crazy and DeLay's treating them like screaming lepers in the street. That's the most hilarious part of all this cronyism is that once the money runs out or someone gets caught, their loyalty just dissolves.

DeLay will probably walk. He's got Deguerin. Deguerin got a guy off who cut off someone's head and called it self defense. Now, THAT'S a lawyer.

Once this ridiculous partisanship ceases ( not in our lifetimes ), maybe we can float this ship back to the land of REAL democracy. Wouldn't that be a treat? Where all of us who are so pissed off actually have a voice that matters. Where justice doesn't get bought and sold and people are actually held accountable for their actions. (someone insert the string section, here, I'm getting all weepy)

Regardless of how you feel about the propriety of the financial maneuverings engaged in by the two major parties, at least in the state of Texas, it does not appear to have been illegal. From what I have read, the activities alleged were done in 2002, while the law that supposedly makes them illegal was passed in 2003. Sorry guys, that doesn't make a crime. If Earle has something more, great. If not, then he looks like a horse's ass. But you can't penalize someone for engaging in legal activities, not in our legal system, anyway.

And for those who don't like gerrymandering, allow me to show you the other side of this coin. Follow this link to a map of North Carolina's 12th Congressional District: http://ftp2.census.gov/geo/maps/cong_dist/cd108_gen/ind_pdf/North_Carolina/NC_CD12.gif
This district was drawn by the majoroty Democrats to guarantee a black Congressman (Mel Watts) would be elected. Note that the 12th District encompasses a sizeable part of the Cities of Charlotte, Winston-Salem, Greensboro and High Point, along with any other sizeable population centers as it snakes through NC along a corridor 3-4 miles wide and about 100 miles long. The urban areas it swallows are (surprise, surprise) largely minority. So let's not get too uppity about the dastardly things the Republicans did with redistricting in Texas. It's, unfortunately, all too common. And I would venture a guess that, nationwide, the past masters of gerrymandering and redistricting are the Democratic Party. You may not like it - I am not very happy with it, but it has been a part of our political process for a very long time.

You are wrong about Ronnie Earle-he is not partisian-he prosecuted 12 dems and 3 repubs! Check the facts yourself by googling

Well, of course they're all gerrymandering. I never said they weren't. But shouldn't this be where the outrage is? Not that they "technically" get away with it, but that the system in place allows them to? By "them" I mean ALL of them.

May I suggest a hearty round of throat-punching?

The only reason all of this "money laundering" shit is relevant is because good gov types years ago decided it was inappropriate for individuals to give as much money as they wished to whatever politican they wanted. So then PACS and corporate fundraising, etc came into being. Wanna get rid of all this bullshit? Eliminate all campaign fundraising laws except this one: a candidate can take as much money as he wants from whomever he wants, as long as he reports it publicly and frequently.

Maybe the voters'll actually pay attention. Oh, that's the problem then, isn't it?

"But shouldn't this be where the outrage is?"

Okay, now we're talking something different here. I have no argument with your outrage against political machinations as practiced in American politics. However, condoning possible abuses of the legal system as a means of "getting" politicians who engage in (legal) practices that you don't like is not a good way to fix the system. What you wind up with is much, much worse, because then the rule of law is gone and everything becomes power politics. It's bad enough now, I don't want to think about surviving under that kind of system.

sue! get a clue. ronnie earl is a ignorant prick, elected by wack jobs populating travis county. i am here to tell you the capitol of texas does NOT portray which way the political winds blow here in texas, it is a liberal haven, and further more his job is NOT TO ABUSE HIS POWER AS THE TRAVIS COUNTY D.A, which is what will probably be shown to have happened in the end. earle is a mega-loser and his track record of prosecuting politicians is plenty evidence of that. he will indict, just because he thinks in his head, it's just wrong, not by what the law says, and that's a fact. he's just plain trash, period.

Hmmm.

1. "You are wrong about Ronnie Earle-he is not partisian-he prosecuted 12 dems and 3 repubs! Check the facts yourself by googling"

Ronnie Earle prosecutes political opponents, not necessarily Republicans. That doesn't make him a saint.

2. "Colyandro and Ellis are knee-deep in the civil trial because these guys got CAUGHT."

Actually it's a criminal trial, and there's no evidence that anything illegal was actually done.

3. "With any luck, we can stretch this whole thing out til Miers gets confirmed, so it can get thrown out on a technicality 5-4 by the Supreme Court like the Florida thing. That would be real justice."

The level of irony implicit exceeds federally mandated safety standards.

4. "How can anyone support the money laundering of $190,000 to influence an election? Regardless of WHAT political party did it - it's wrong."

The problem of course is that it's not "money laundering". Money laundering by definition requires the money to come from an illegal act. If the money doesn't come from an illegal act, then it cannot be money laundering. This is the most essential problem with Earle's charges, and one that will eventually cause his case to be thrown out of court.

And yes, this is Texas law we're talking about here.

As an example. If you gave me $5, and then I turn around and gave that $5 to someone else at your direction, then that could be money laundering. But only if the $5 you gave me was tainted because it came from an illegal act. If you legitimately and legally earned that $5, then no single transfer or series of transfers could make that illegal as long as it doesn't violate any US Customs or banking laws.

*shrug* if you want to believe Earle is as pure as the driven snow, then go right on ahead. But if you're a resident of Travis County, then you might want to be a little careful. One possible reason for filing the counter-charges that DeLay has filed against Earle and his office, is for a serious civil lawsuit that'll involve tens of millions of dollars in damages. And those will have to be paid out of the County's funds, and thus from taxes paid by the County's residents.

5. "I agree that both Repubs AND Dems do what he's done ( which IS launder money-when you get money, funnel it through another entity and write a check out the other side, that's laundering--and yes, I realize both sides do it )."

No it isn't, as I explained in item #4.

The money has to be the proceeds of an illegal act. If the money is legitimate, then it cannot be money laundering. What Earle is alleging is a rather bizzare viewpoint. He might succeed, he might not. Frankly I seriously doubt he'll succeed and if he did, the Democrats would hate his guts even more than Republicans because they rely on corporate donations more than Republicans do in Texas.

Here's another example. Say you need me to file some papers with a local office that will only take a check drawn from a local bank. You live in another state and don't have a local bank account and you are far enough away that you need me to file the papers for you. You send me $50 to cover the cost of the filing charge, which I deposit in my local bank account. I then go to the local office, attach my check from a local bank and file the papers for you.

Is that money laundering?

Only if the original $50 you sent to me was earned from an illegal act. Otherwise it's a perfactly legal transaction that happens all the time, all over America. If DeLay is guilty of money laundering, then a *lot* of other people are too.

Which is a little ridiculous.

Hmmm.

"Eliminate all campaign fundraising laws except this one: a candidate can take as much money as he wants from whomever he wants, as long as he reports it publicly and frequently."

*Exactly*!

Force the FEC to maintain a website that details all of the donations and money transactions in a simple and easily understood format, with an available download in various formats such as XLS, XML, CSV, etc etc etc.

Frankly I think most, if not all, campaign finance laws are really very undemocratic.

markie, you said “You are wrong about Ronnie Earle-he is not partisian-he prosecuted 12 dems and 3 repubs! Check the facts yourself by googling”.

Dems that were his enemies. Except for his little misdemeanor indictment stunt in which he indicted himself so he can say he is completely honest. Give me a break. Also the Dems don’t have a rule where they have to step down from leadership position if indicted.

wavemaker,

I'm with you! The only thing I would change in your suggestion is that only people (i.e. real, live human beings) can give money to political campaigns. No corporate money. No PAC money. No 529 money.

Other than that, no limits and full, immediate disclosure.

Michael,

Put down the keyboard and step away from the computer! Dude, you need to take a break from politics or something...before you have an aneurysm. It's been my experience that people who say "yeah, well they're all guilty" as an arguement fall into one of two camps. Either they are so over the top emotional about an issue that they can no longer think straight, or they have an agenda that they are trying desperately to conceal.

Here are a few actual facts and a couple of conclusions.

Sue is correct, Texas law empowers the District Attorney in Travis County, the state capital, to investigate possible violations of Texas laws related to the operation of Texas government, elections and similar areas. The state of Texas funds the Public Integrity Unit, which is part of the Travis County District Attorney’s office.

Ronnie Earle is a Texas politician who has been DA of Travis County for 27 years. He has to get himself re-elected periodically.

After more than 100 years of Democrat rule in state government, about 20 years ago the citizens of Texas and their moderate and conservative representatives began converting to the Republican party. At this point there are no Democrat constitutional government officers in Texas, nor are there likely to be any time soon. Both houses of the Legislature have Republican majorities. Mostly the same for the judiciary, which is elected in Texas.

The final nail in Texas Democrat’s coffin was electing a Republican majority to the Texas House of Representatives and the subsequent redrawing of Texas Congressional districts. Tom Delay was the political will behind those events. He is not popular with Texas Democrats.

Travis County, home of the state government the University of Texas, and the focus of Texas art and music, is one of the remaining Texas bastions of liberalism and the Democratic party. It’s more blue than the Hope Diamond. The only time there are Republicans in Austin is when the Legislature is in session.

At election time, Ronnie points with pride to his record of prosecuting official evil doers. Early on, it was conservative and moderate Democrats, but of course since there aren’t any left now it’s Republicans. Best of all, the state pays for it, and people of Travis County love it. Ronnie has found a sure-fire formula for staying in office forever.

Fortunately for Texas politicians, Ronnie tends to over-reach (link below). It’s beginning to look like he may have done so again. If he has, Tom DeLay can have pretty much any Texas office he wants. And the Texas Legislature may find that the Public Integrity law needs improvement.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/metropolitan/3382733

"I'm with you! The only thing I would change in your suggestion is that only people (i.e. real, live human beings) can give money to political campaigns. No corporate money. No PAC money. No 529 money."

All of those things you mentioned are just groups of real people. A corporation is just a group of people. If we are not going to allow groups of people to be politically active, are we going to ban political parties? Not that it would be a bad idea.....

George Soros was convicted of insider trading and he bankrolled the campaigns of several prominent democrats during the last elections, most indirectly through 527's but some directly. At least a percent of his money was gotten illegally. I sure don't see the people demanding DeLay's arrest applying the same standards when there actually was provable money laundering involved. They might just lean a little to the hypocrital side. Then again they could could be dishonest liberals supporting a dishonest ideology by dishonest means. That would be my guess. The truth hurts, doesn't it?

Ronnie Earle is also neck deep in a "documentary" about all of this. A lot of money is invested in the production and I'm sure the producers want to make sure they can recoup their investment. After all, if Earle comes up empty handed, the movie is worthless.

If you don't think that smells like last weeks fish, the you ain't payin attention.

VW

Hmmm.

I don't think you can legally prevent corporations from donating money. Corporations do have certain rights including free speech. I think, IANAL, that corporate rights are at a lower bar than individual rights, but they do exist.

But I think the real key is open and timely disclosure. How that would be significantly different from what we have now, I don't have much of an idea really.

The only thing I can think of is that the byzantine rules structure we have now only helps the professionals. Average people who'd like to run for office are prevented from doing so because of the ridiculous complexity of the laws. Consider the difficulty of creating a new national political party.

I can incorporate a brand new corporation and then do business anywhere. But you can't create a national party that easily. Instead you've got to work within the various bizzare rules of each state, which are oriented towards preventing such parties from forming.

*shrug* I suppose ultimately what I'm discussing is a complete overhaul of the entire registration and voting system. Yeah. That'll never happen.

Ronnie Earle is a jack....wait my name is Ron. The guys a clown practicing the art of marketing his position as DA. Problem is Delay's name just keeps popping up in the mud pits. Disturbing.

This is a Karl Rovian plot to discredit Texas Democrats and position DeLay for a presidental bid.

(Remember, Rove is behind everything!)

Gee, you prove that most of the high profile democrat candidates in the last election accepted laundered money from a convict and the lynch mob drops their pitchforks and goes home. I must have been right about the dishonesty thing.

ed and Sheik -- I agree with Sheik -- individuals only. And surely you can legally prohibit corporations from giving political contributions -- it's the law now in most (if not every) states and federally. The problem is that PACS and corporations HIDE the true origin of donable money by "washing" it through their organizations (not "laundering" in the legal sense -- as has been pointed out) -- look what labor unions do to their members -- forcing them (illegally) to contribute money to their PAC fund and giving the money to "friendly" candidates regardless of the individual's wishes.

ed, while you're correct about the whole "laundering" word and its legal meaning, I think the use of the word is more the MSM attempt to paint the scheme is the most tawdry terms possible. In fact, most campaign finance laws do prohibit the act of hiding or misrepresenting the true identity of the donor, or using a series of connecting deposits and contributions through various organizations to get around, say, contribution limits or bundling. It is a common practice made necessary by the needlessly (and increasingly) arcane system of restrictions on political giving.

Sue and the rest, Texas law is very explicit with respect to venue. Violations of campaign law are to be charged in the county of residence of the accused - see Title 15 Sec 251.004. So like his other sleazy moves, Earle did not charge DeLay with a violation of campaign finance laws, because that would been tossed as the wrong venue. Instead he charges him with conspiracy, a separate charge that is not part of election law.

By the time this is over, Earle will be lucky to escape this without sanctions against him these charges will never make it to a trial.