Delay’s Woes Get Worse
The American Progress Action Fund’s Daily Report is a good source of news and information on Washington. The lead item in today’s email dispatch: Shortly after Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) was criminally indicted and forced to step down from his post as House Majority Leader, New York Times columnist David Brooks declared the DeLay era “dead.” Not so fast. DeLay’s “temporary” replacement as Majority Leader, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-MO), is a “DeLay protégé” with more than his fair share of ethical problems. Yesterday, the Associated Press reported that “Tom DeLay deliberately raised more money than he needed to throw parties at the 2000 presidential convention, then diverted some of the excess to longtime ally Roy Blunt through a series of donations….When the financial carousel stopped, DeLay’s private charity, the consulting firm that employed DeLay’s wife and the Missouri campaign of Blunt’s son all ended up with money.” Also involved in the scam: disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. (For more details, check out the AP’s handy timeline.) The complicated transactions could lead to more trouble for both men. Lawrence Noble, formerly the government’s chief elections officer, said, “The Blunt and DeLay transactions are similar to the Texas case [in which DeLay has been indicted] and raise questions that should be investigated regarding whether donors were deceived or the true destination of their money was concealed.”
Visit the American Progress Action Fund’s web site to sign up for the Daily Report. And stay tuned to Go4Truth as the story unfolds - word is there are Tennessee connections to the DeLay controversy that haven’t yet been revealed.
