U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay won’t find out until next month whether he’ll have to face trial on money-laundering and conspiracy charges. And if he does, Judge Pat Priest said, the trial probably won’t start until after the first of the year.
That dims chances for DeLay, R-Sugar Land, to regain his position as House Majority Leader, which he was forced to relinquish under Republican Party rules once he was indicted on criminal charges. Republicans are scheduled to vote on a new majority leader in January.
DeLay, whose 22nd Congressional District includes much of Fort Bend County, was charged along with associates Jim Ellis and John Colyandro. DeLay was in court Tuesday in Travis County before Judge Priest, and sought to have charges against him dismissed. If charges are not dismissed, DeLay’s attorneys have asked that the trial begin in early December and be held in Fort Bend County rather than Travis County.
Priest said he likely won’t rule on those motions for two weeks or more, noting DeLay’s is not the only case over which he is presiding.
The conspiracy indictment against DeLay states that, around Sept. 13, 2002, he, Colyandro and Ellis conspired to knowingly commit a felony by making an illegal campaign contribution.
It is illegal in Texas to spend money from corporations or labor unions on political campaigns.
According to DeLay’s conspiracy indictment, Colyandro and Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee DeLay created, took contributions from several corporations.
Ellis and TRM then wrote out a check for $190,000 to the Republican National State Elections Committee, an arm of the Republican National Committee, drawn from the same bank account in which the corporate contributions had been deposited, according to the indictment. Colyandro signed the check.
Ellis and TRM delivered the check to the RNC and representative Terry Nelson. And, according to the indictment, Ellis provided Terry with a list of Republican candidates for the Texas House of Representatives, and amounts to be contributed to each candidate.
But DeLay’s defense attorneys contended Tuesday that Travis County prosecutors have not legitimatley accused DeLay of any crime, arguing that Texas conspiracy law didn’t apply to money laundering or to the state’s election code in 2002, when DeLay is alleged to have violated the law.
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle argued that both charges are valid and that DeLay’s lawyers are misinterpreting the law.
