AUSTIN, Texas — A jury in Texas has convicted former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on charges he illegally funneled corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. Delay was once one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress. He now faces up to life in prison.
Jurors in Austin deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts on Wednesday on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Prosecutors say the former Houston-area congressman used his political action committee to illegally channel $190,000 in corporate donations into Texas legislative races through a money swap.
DeLay and his attorneys maintained no corporate funds went to Texas candidates and the money swap was legal.
He will not be pardoned. He will be assessed a fine and serve a period of probation. Not sure if he's a member of the TX bar, but if so, he will lose that. He will die a "convicted felon," though there is a school of thought that posits he was a "felon" as soon as be launched this plan. Whatever.
While the charges were not trumped up, the prosecution was definitely politically motivated. Delay simply got "too cute" with his political gamesmanship,thinking he was above the law, and he got tripped up by a politically-minded prosecutor. It happens everywhere, all the time. If the state's attorney had been a Republican the case would never have been brung.
There never was any question about what was done here, or essentially that it violated the intent of the law, the only question was whether the jury would buy Delay's you-gotta-be-kidding explanation.
Unless I have missed it Republicans don’t tend to pardon Republicans and conservatives, but Democrats do pardon Democrats and radicals. It was Clinton that pardoned the Puerto Rican freedom fighters that attacked the US Congress in the late 1940s. I don’t understand liberals if they consider these people freedom fighters why have they not freed Puerto Rico from American Imperialism, please?
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.
Crackpot wrote:You forget about Scooter Libby so soon?
Yes, maybe I did, but wouldn’t that be the exception and not the rule?
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.
Not really I was listening on the radio to the other day and they were saying that Obama was odd in that he hadn't issued a pardon yet (outside of turkeys) That and it once was common practice butit's been decreasingly used in recent administrations
(don't forget Ford Pardoning Nixon either)
Okay... There's all kinds of things wrong with what you just said.
Crackpot wrote:You forget about Scooter Libby so soon?
Yes, maybe I did, but wouldn’t that be the exception and not the rule?
You forget about Richard Nixon so soon?
P.S. George H.W. Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger, Elliott Abrams, Duane R. Clarridge, Alan D. Fiers, Clair George, and Robert C. McFarlane fore their roles in the Iran-Contra affair.
Oops, I see that Crackpot mentioned Nixon.
People who are wrong are just as sure they're right as people who are right. The only difference is, they're wrong.
— God@The Tweet of God
liberty wrote:Unless I have missed it Republicans don’t tend to pardon Republicans and conservatives, but Democrats do pardon Democrats and radicals. It was Clinton that pardoned the Puerto Rican freedom fighters that attacked the US Congress in the late 1940s. I don’t understand liberals if they consider these people freedom fighters why have they not freed Puerto Rico from American Imperialism, please?
It's the village idiot's SOP to claim that Republicans are punished for these sorts of things while Democrats are given a pass, he tried it here, for example, and had his ass handed to him six ways from Sunday and still tried to say his bullshit claims were justified.
Scooter wrote:It's the village idiot's SOP to claim that Republicans are punished for these sorts of things while Democrats are given a pass, he tried it here, for example, and had his ass handed to him six ways from Sunday and still tried to say his bullshit claims were justified.
I am not interested in trading insults; it is a waste of time. I barely have time to participate in this forum I definitely don’t have time for this truck.
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.
Crackpot wrote:You forget about Scooter Libby so soon?
Yes, maybe I did, but wouldn’t that be the exception and not the rule?
You forget about Richard Nixon so soon?
P.S. George H.W. Bush pardoned Caspar Weinberger, Elliott Abrams, Duane R. Clarridge, Alan D. Fiers, Clair George, and Robert C. McFarlane fore their roles in the Iran-Contra affair.
Oops, I see that Crackpot mentioned Nixon.
You might have point there, but doesn’t appear that the Republicans usually get in trouble trying protect the country.
The Bollin Amendment was the communist protection act. The fact that it was passed just shows how defeated the US was.
I expected to be placed in an air force combat position such as security police, forward air control, pararescue or E.O.D. I would have liked dog handler. I had heard about the dog Nemo and was highly impressed. “SFB” is sad I didn’t end up in E.O.D.
You might have point there, but doesn’t appear that the Republicans usually get in trouble trying protect the country.
The Bollin Amendment was the communist protection act. The fact that it was passed just shows how defeated the US was.
Selling TOW missiles to the Iranian Mullahs is "protecting the country"? These were the Mullahs who directed the attack on the Marine Barracks which killed several hundred US servicemen in Lebanon and scared "Ronny the Coward" in leaving? These were the Mullahs who celebrated an annual "death to America" day? And it was after all of these events that Ronny the felon sold them missiles.
Using the money to pay for terrorist attacks on a democratic country is "protecting the country"?
Self-delusion is an infinitely powerful force, for some ...
