Common Cause Blog :: Latest Bombshells Over DeLay Scandals

Latest Bombshells Over DeLay Scandals

By Murshed Zaheed
Posted on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 08:43:04 AM EST

News of brand new DeLay scandal(s) have erupted all over the major newspapers this morning. First up - the New York Times:

WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's political action and campaign committees, according to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state, Texas.

Most of the payments to his wife, Christine A. DeLay, and his only child, Dani DeLay Ferro, were described in the disclosure forms as "fund-raising fees," "campaign management" or "payroll," with no additional details about how they earned the money. The payments appear to reflect what Mr. DeLay's aides say is the central role played by the majority leader's wife and daughter in his political career.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post is reporting on yet another DeLay overseas trip linking him to foreign lobbying groups:

A six-day trip to Moscow in 1997 by then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was underwritten by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government, according to four people with firsthand knowledge of the trip arrangements.

DeLay reported that the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay's trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign.

snip

DeLay also dined with the Russian executives and two Washington-based registered lobbyists for the Bahamian-registered company, sources say. One of those lobbyists was Jack Abramoff, who is now at the center of a federal influence-peddling and corruption probe related to his representation of Indian tribes.

These stories just keep adding to the DeLay's looong list of transgressions showing a clear pattern of repeated misbehavior. And, as we have said over and over again until we get the ethics crisis fixed in this House of Representative, the situation is only going to get worse. As the national media's glare on this story is intensifying, we need your help to take up this issue locally.

So please host a party on April 12th, invite your friends, family, and neigbors over to your house - huddle around the coffee table or kitchen table, and organize to take this issue directly to your congressional representatives and local media. They are starting to feel the heat through the media, and now it is time they feel the heat of your concerns about the complete lack of accountability and ethics standards in DeLay's House.

Tags: Government Accountability (all tags)

Latest Bombshells Over DeLay Scandals :: 3 Comments

Dump DeLay

Nail DeLay!!!!!!!!!! (4.00 / 4)

He's on the run. But let's really nail him. Then start lobbying your Rep. Start by demanding DeLay resigns. The easy way to do this is:
http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/action.cf m?itemid=18721

But even better than this, contact your Reps office directly by looking him or her up on:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/

Then focus on the ethics committee. Let them know you are sick of DeLay's scandals and you want him out:

Here are the 10 ethics committee members you need to call:

Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA): 202-225-5816

Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL): 202-225-3515

Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX): 202-225-4236

Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA): 202-225-2565

Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK): 202-225-6165

Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV): 202-225-4172 (Ranking Minority Member)

Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH): 202-225-7032

Rep. Gene Green (D-TX): 202-225-1688

Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA): 202-225-1766

Rep. Michael F. Doyle (D-PA): 202-225-2135

Or go here for more info on the ethics committee:
http://www.commonblog.com/story/2005/3/8/112531/59 55
MOST IMPORTANTLY, hit the issue in your local media. Get writing letters and calling talk shows demanding that DeLay resign:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/dbq/media/

And let's give the advertising strategy some help. There are three groups putting out ads in targeted markets calling for DeLay's resignation:

Progressive Majority: For the first $20,000 contributed, the Campaign for America's Future will match every dollar 4-to-1 to expose DeLay's corruption for even more people. With this match, every $10 you contribute will put this ad in front of 160 households for a full week! Please contribute today.

https:/secure.ctsg.com/ourfuture/donate_delay_tv.a sp

Public Campaign Action Fund: A more targeted ad campaign targeting Republican districts where the Rep has shown signs of turning on DeLay-- Reps. Rob Simmons (CT), Tom Reynolds (NY), and Doc Hastings (WA)-- join our call for DeLay to resign. They also need money to expand their efforts:

https:/secure.ga3.org/03/without_delay

Finally, don't forget in your letters to the editor to mention that other Republican leaders are corrupt as well. Some examples:

First made money investing in an abortion clinic: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTI CLE_ID=30124

Ohio Congressman Mike Oxley, Chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, offered to drop a much-needed probe of the mutual insurance industry if its Washington-based trade group, the Investment Company Institute, agreed to hire a Republican to oversee its lobbying efforts: http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A ID=/20031208/SROXLEY/112070097&SearchID=732034 83665556
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A ID=/20031208/SROXLEY/31207007&SearchID=7320348 3665556
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A ID=/20031207/SROXLEY/31208011&SearchID=7320348 3665556
http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?A ID=/20031207/SROXLEY/31209005&SearchID=7320348 3665556

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/3/9/19274/36787
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename= article&contentId=A28822-2004Mar3&notFound =true

And Roy Blount, the House Majority Whip, was romantically involved with a lobbyist for a Fortune 500 company (this itself is a conflict, and a violation of House ethics rules) and then attempted to please her and her employers by grafting legislation favorable to the company onto the Homeland Security Bill.

We can play a real role in nailing these corrupt bastards by writing lots and lots of letters. It is working for DeLay! One of my readers from Texas sent me this:

This letter to the editor this morning was too good to let pass.
"As an American, a Republican, a Texan and a constitutional conservative, I am embarassed, saddened and frightened by Tom DeLay. His behavior and pronouncements are creating negative perceptions of the citizens of this state and nation and our system of government. He is doing more damage to the Republican Party than any Democrat could do."
This from a Texas Republican.

Delenda est Sinclair! http://www.dkosopedia.com/index.php/Sinclair_Broad cast_Group

by Anonymous Citizen on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 11:20:40 AM EST

Two more DeLay editorials

Two more DeLay editorials came out today (thanks to the Daily Pulse).

One is from the Des Moines Register:

If a bunch of street thugs try to intimidate judges, it's criminal conduct of the worst sort because it undermines the rule of law.

If a bunch of congressmen try to intimidate judges, well, that's just politics as practiced by Iowa's own Steve King and cohort Tom DeLay of Texas.

After the death of Terri Schiavo, King and DeLay issued veiled threats of retaliation against federal judges who didn't rule the way the congressmen wanted them to.

The other is from the Modesto Bee:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, last week declared war on one branch of the government, condemning what he called 'an arrogant, out of control, unaccountable judiciary that thumbed their nose at the Congress and the president.'

We would argue that the problem really stems from arrogant and out-of-control members of Congress, notably DeLay. [...]

American freedoms depend on the separation of powers. DeLay and others in Congress have made a mockery of that principle.

by Alex Hill on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 12:49:44 PM EST

Death by a Thousand Cuts

He's doomed, but it sure is fun watching the dam break.

by Anonymous Citizen on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 07:36:53 PM EST

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Latest Bombshells Over DeLay Scandals

By Murshed ZaheedPosted on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 08:43:04 AM EST

By Murshed Zaheed
Posted on Wed Apr 06, 2005 at 08:43:04 AM EST