Get ready for a nolo contendere plea by Delay. Here's why

[Walt Starr]

"The Grand Jury further presents that, with the advise and consent of counsel, the defendent, Thomas Dale DeLay, did heretofore knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive application of Articles 12.01 and 12.02 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure to the indictment presented herein. In particular, the Grand Jury present that with the advice and consent of counsel, the defendent, Thomas Dale DeLay, did knowingly, intelligently, and voluntarily waive the requirement that an indictment for the felony offense of criminal conspiracy, the object of which is felony other than those listed in Subdivisions (1) and (5) of Article 12.01 of the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure, may be presented within three years from the date of commission of the offense, and not afterward, insofar as such requirement pertains to the indictment presented herein,"

Bottom of page three of the indictment:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0928051delay3.html

and the top of page four of the indictment:

http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/0928051delay4.html

DeLay copped a plea bargain. Why else would his counsel advise and consent to waive the statute of limitations on an offense he could be indicted on?

[whistle]

1. First thing Tom Delay does is attack the prosecutor calling his...

...endictment a democratic vendetta against him. What a lying POS. I remember when VP Spiro Agnew (Nixon's VP) did the same thing 30 years ago. Agnew was totally guilty of corruption, copped a plea, then went on the attack. I wish Tom Delay the same fate as Spiro Agnew got, total obscurity!

[longship]

2. Convicted of a felony in Texas?

He won't be able to vote.

[MissB]

3. Yeah, that is what this thread talked about

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[Shakespeare]

4. Not sure. Could be a run-of-the-mill tolling agreement consented to...

...previously by DeLay's counsel (agreement to toll the statute of limitations).

[LiberalEsto]

5. That was Spiro Agnew's famous plea

when he was indicted in Maryland on various corruption charges bacl in '73 or '74.

For the younger DUers, Agnew was Nixon's vice president. Many thought Nixon chose him to make himself impeachment-proof, since nobody in their right mind would have wanted Agnew to be president.

In order to impeach Nixon, they had to get Agnew out of the way. After his nolo contendre pleas, Agnew resigned as VP and Gerald Ford took his place, becoming an unelected president when Nixon resigned in August of 1974.

[Just Me]

6. If he copped a plea, the announcement of TODAY'S indictment,...

,...would be unnecessary. How can he "cop a plea" before he is even charged?

I don't get where this rumor comes from.

The reasoning underlying the waiver of the S/L most likely had more to do with elections and a failure to cooperate on his part than anything else. I am certain he refused to cooperate with ANY discovery relating to the criminal charges against his colleagues; and, he likely negotiated an extension to save his ass from contempt or something like that.

Just an educated guess.

[berni_mccoy]

7. We talked about this in another thread

He could have waived his rights back when the House was changing the ethics rules.

That is, grand jury started in Sep 2004... House says to Delay, "Waive your statute of limitations rights if you have nothing to hide for us to make a rule change" then the rules are changed....

[Walt Starr]

8. Kicked for the morning crowd n/t

[Walt Starr]

9. Hmmmm, DeLay met with Earle on August 17

That would have been AFTER the statute of limitations had already run out on the conspiracy charge.

I'm now POSITIVE DeLay has a plea bargain:

Press Coverage

DeLay Seeks Closure on Texas Case
By John Bresnahan, Roll Call

September 13, 2005

The recently disclosed meeting between House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and a prosecutor investigating allegations of state campaign finance violations is a strong signal that DeLay is trying to put a longstanding Texas investigation behind him as he prepares for a potential probe by the House ethics committee. DeLay and his lawyers met with Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle and his aides for about 90 minutes on Aug. 17 in the Public Integrity unit of the Travis County DA’s office. Sources close to both men described the meeting as cordial and said DeLay was treated more like a witness than a potential target of the probe.

Accompanying DeLay to the meeting were his Austin criminal-defense lawyers, Bill White and Steve Brittan, as well Toby Vick of McGuireWoods (one of DeLay’s Washington, D.C., law firms) and Elliot Berke, general counsel in the Majority Leader’s office. Earle was joined by Greg Cox, director of the Public Integrity unit, and another official.

Earle has been leading a two-and-half-year investigation into the use of corporate funds in the 2002 Texas legislative races. Earle obtained indictments against three DeLay political allies last September for allegedly violating Texas’ ban on the use of corporate campaign donations in state legislative races. Since then, there has been widespread speculation that DeLay also could find himself going in front of a grand jury at some point.


http://www.citizensforethics.org/press/pressclip.php?vi...

[berni_mccoy]

11. I'm not convinced it's a plea yet...

It *could* be but here is why I have doubts:

1. Earle already had indictments against the other people involved.
2. That meeting *could* have been a chance for DeLay to confess and get leniency... if you cooperate with the system they often go easy on you. He probably chose to fight whatever Earle had.
3. DeLay would have no reason to waive the statute in this meeting unless there was a greater charge with a longer statute of limitations... and if that were the case, he'd be pleaing guilty to this charge which means he's gonna lose his seat in congress. Can't see him doing that either. And if this were true, he wouldn't be 'fighting' the charges now as it appears he's going to. He'd be admitting that he did wrong.

You are right to call this out, and you may be right in the end. Something still doesn't add up for me though... and I think we'll soon find out.

[Walt Starr]

12. He's doing precisely what Agnew did

As soon as Agnew was indicted on the Maryland corruption charges, he was all over the place decrying a "political and partisan" prosecution as a withc hunt, knowing full well he had agreed to a plea bargain and would enter a plea of nolo contendere.

This is all about salvaging something so he can enter into a lucrative career of offering bribes as a lobbyist.

[rasputin1952]

10. DALE???? The same name as the bug guy on ...

"King of the Hill", Dale Gribble.


I never realized DeLay's middle name was Dale, and now I see the connection:

severe gov't paranoia

always in trouble

no guts

always pushing towards the edge of legality

always wrong

Holy Shit...I'm gonna have a whole new outlook on the show now...