Judge rules against Texans for a Republican Majority

[NoPasaran]

State District Judge Joe Hart ruled Thursday that Texans for a Republican Majority violated state campaign law when it failed to disclose more than a half-million dollars in corporate contributions during the 2002 state legislative elections.

Hart, however, said the plaintiffs could only collect for damages in their campaigns. He awarded $196,660 to the five Democratic candidates who lost in 2002. Included in that total was an $87,332 award to former state Rep. Ann Kitchen of Austin.

http://www.statesman.com/metrostate/content/metro/stories/05/26trmpac.html

[noamnety]

1. All the money that was raised illegally

Should automatically go to the other parties.

[Gothmog]

2. Here is the link to the Houston paper story on this

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/topstory2/3199327 This may be a major nail in Bugboy's coffin

[Roland99]

3. We can only hope. I only wish it was moving more quickly.

[NoPasaran]

6. The mills of the gods grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine

A good scandal takes a long time to mature. Savor each moment.

[Me.]

26. So True

and the grinding away continues, not a good week for the pugs. I bet Howard Dean is smiling today.

[AmBlue]

41. Gotta love how the shit's just piling up n/t

[fob]

4. So Texas Law is "if you're going to cheat/steal in a campaign you need

to steal 2.5 times what the opposition is spending to tell the truth"?

OK....

[mom cat]

48. I like your fuzzy math.

:toast:

[fob]

49. Fuzzy? They "misreported" $500,000 and as a punishment have to

pay back $200,000. Seems like a 2.5 to 1 racket to me.

And thanks for the cheers, right back at ya.
:toast:

[wallwriter]

5. Will DeLay ever actually get caught in this one?

[bonzotex]

52. Delay is toast, really...

Repugs in Texas are furious about Travis County DA Ronnie Earle's ongoing Grand Jury investigation. They are furious because they are scared and with good reason.
The civil case just decided doesn't directly hang Delay. The real damage will be done by the crimnial investigations still in the Grand Jury phase. The monetary award for the civil case is just the tip of the iceberg. The repugs use of Corporate money in the Texas elections in 2000, 2002 and 2004 is ugly and blatant. Because TX campaign finance laws are so lax, you really have to try to do something illegal. These guys, including Delay, did, in spades, over and over. They got sloppy and overconfident. Delay may not go to jail, but some of his close pals might. When the indictments come down, Delay will have another big scandal to add to his sheet.

It won't overturn the ridiculous gerrymandering, but it will expose a lot of Repugs, especially Delay, as the Corporate tools they are and a lot of them will get hurt in n 2006. Even in Texas people get sick of corruption. Texas is also not such a dead solid lock for the repugs in every election. Don't give up on us!

[dec1549]

58. Delay is toast

Remember, the people his PAC are going to have to pay are the Democrats he gerrymandered out of office. They're the one's who brought this particular suit. That's why I love the outcome of this one. His (its attorneys) say they'll appeal the imposition of court costs, but not the verdict itselft. That's pretty typical. No one wants to pay the other party's court costs. This isn't the only suit against Delay and his PAC. It's going to snowball. This was a civil suit, not a criminal one. One after another wins -- more pissed off people are going to file suit against Delay when they realize he's not invincible. Even here in Texas. I don't think this suit was the one brought by Ronnie Earle. As I told a friend of mine, "One down!" How many more to go?

[bonzotex]

63. you're right, best is yet to come.

Ronnie Earle's criminal cases will be the cake, icing and candles. I love it!

[Missouri Leadership]

53. Tom Delay Found Guilty Today

Texas Judge Finds Delay's Political Committee Guilty of Violating Campaign Finance Law

Washington—The watchdog group Public Campaign Action Fund released the following statement from its National Campaigns Director, David Donnelly, regarding today's ruling against Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC):

Read More


________________________________________

Remember where you heard it first.
Missouri Leadership


For Today's Social and Political News

[Dover]

7. The judge SHOULD declare the elections null and void.

"Damages" aren't strictly monetary in this case and should include the potential loss of the elected positions which they were running for.

You can't rob a bank and then pay your way out of it. Why should the Republicans get to keep their stolen elections?

[MADem]

8. I agree with you-- the victims here are not just the 'losing' candidates

...but the VOTERS, as well. Who knows, maybe some bunch of voters will bring a separate suit against them, having been denied their rights to a free and fair election.

[blondeatlast]

43. I'd rather take Bug Bomb Tom down the hard way, and with him

goes the Texas/DC machine.

[onehandle]

9. More money where that came from.

196k is chump change to the GOP.

[renaissanceguy]

10. If only judges would rule out

Republican majorities.

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.14741193

[Gman]

11. Of course this will be appealed to the Texas Supreme Court

from whence Priscella Owens came.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

14. Yeah and then it will go to the fifth circuit where she can overturn it

[sabra]

12. Judge Rules Against DeLay Group Official

<<SNIP>>
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-5033551,00.html

Judge Rules Against DeLay Group Official


AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - The treasurer of a political committee formed by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay violated Texas election code by not reporting hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions and expenditures, a judge ruled Thursday in a civil case brought by Democratic candidates.

State District Judge Joe Hart, in a letter outlining his ruling to attorneys in the case, said the money should have been reported to the Texas Ethics Commission.

The ruling means Bill Ceverha, treasurer of the group, called the Texans for a Republican Majority political action committee, will have to pay nearly $200,000. It will be divided among those who brought the suit against Ceverha, five Democratic candidates who lost legislative races in 2002.

.....

DeLay has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

<</SNIP>>

[gratuitous]

13. Received $500,000 illegally, fined $200,000

Nobody goes to jail and none of the elections results are overturned.

I hope that they at least said, "Shame, shame, everybody knows your name."

[jobycom]

15. NoParasan, do you know if this is related to Kitchen's suit against

the business group who funded the non-disclosed attacks against her?

Ann Kitchen, for those who haven't heard of her, was a rising star in the legislature in Texas. She was waylaid in Delay's first redistricting of Texas in 2002, when her district was made more Republican. Polls still showed her as a strong challenge to the Republicans even in a Republican district. So they launched a series of attacks on her, claiming to be non-partisan, so that they didn't have to disclose their funding. These attacks were largely in the form of mailouts, and tried to skirt campaign laws by not explicitly calling for the election of one candidate. They simply attacked Kitchen's record.

I don't know if that group was part of Delay's group. Kitchen was criticized even in our party for trying these lawsuits. No one thought they were wrong, just that they would fail. It's good to see something coming of her standing up.

I really hope she runs again. She was my district representative, and it would be nice to see her reclaim that spot.

BTW, NoP-- love the purple sig! (edited for stupid spelling error)

[NoPasaran]

16. I'm not sure

I think you're referring to TAB (Texas Association of Beezeness); not sure if they were working through TRMPAC or launching their own attack ads.

[wicket]

17. Tom DeLay, the gift that keeps giving

[AnneD]

18. The damage was done

once the district lines were drawn (8 yrs before they should have been). The money was just an afterthought. Too bad they didn't succeed in court on that one.
You guys are gonna love Ms Owen. She even ticked Gonzales off, and I find that amazing. I have to admit our state is becoming a better place now that we got rid of Bush, Rove, DeLay, Gonzales, and Owen...but dang, I do feel badly.

[blondeatlast]

44. Be careful what you wish for. If you all keep sending your wastrels

to Washington, we may all move to Texas--and then vote for secession.

Then you are stuck with us!

:evilgrin:

[ClintonTyree]

51. Yeah, thanks....

your State may be a better place but our Nation is going to hell in a handbasket! Thanks, thanks a lot! ;)

What is it about Texas that breeds these morally bankrupt, bible thumping morons? Whatever it is, I sure as hell don't want it to spread.

[nadinbrzezinski]

19. Tom DeLay's state political action committee was just found guilty of viol

****Note to Mods I go this from the PAC*****

Dear xxx ,

Tom DeLay's state political action committee was just found guilty of violating Texas campaign finance law.


A Texas judge found, in a civil trial, against DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, holding that the committee failed to report $600,000 in corporate contributions, in direct violation of Texas law.


This is the first time ever in a court of law Tom DeLay's fundraising empire has been held to account. There are two things you can do to make this news reverberate around the nation.


First, help us expand our campaign today with a donation to our campaign to force DeLay to step down. We are busy building pressure on members of Congress to force DeLay's resignation, educate the public about the gross violations of standards of conduct, and working with others to spread this message.


Go to https://secure.ga3.org/03/without_delay to make a secure donation on-line.


Second, with this news, we issued a statement and are busy getting the word out to reporters and columnists. Help us spread the word by writing a letter to the editor of your local newspaper. Use the statement as a loose set of talking points to draft your own letter. Let's keep the story in front of the public.


Read our statement at http://dailydelay.blogspot.com/2005/05/public-campaign-action-fund-statement.html. Share what you want about this news by posting comments at the blog.


We know that DeLay and his allies will push back hard, so we need to frame this debate today.


So please take these two actions today, and, importantly, forward this breaking news on to your friends.


Thanks,



David Donnelly
Public Campaign Action Fund


P.S. Our work is having its impact. Help us spread the word by making a donation at https://secure.ga3.org/03/without_delay.


P.P.S. If you want to support our work with a donation, but would prefer to send it in the mail, make your check payable to Public Campaign Action Fund and send it to 1320 19th Street, NW, Suite M-1, Washington, DC 20036. Contributions to Public Campaign Action Fund are not tax deductible for income tax purposes.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Visit the web address below to tell your friends about this campaign to take on Tom DeLay and force him to resign.
Tell-a-friend!

[Rainscents]

20. Kick!

[katmondoo]

21. Remember what happened to Al Gore when he raised

a few thousand dollars at a Buddhist Temple. He was vilified day after day.

[ET Awful]

22. Link to news story regarding judgment

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2005/05/26/national/w080902D75.DTL

[rsdsharp]

24. I think the first thing to do

is get the terminology straight. There's no such thing as "guilt" in a civil trial. The Defendants would have been found liable for damages (in an action at law) or enjoined (in an equity action).

[ET Awful]

25. And I used the word guilty where?

I'm fairly familiar with the terminology, having been a paralegal for 8 years or so.

[rsdsharp]

27. Sorry

I replied to the last post in the thread. I was referring to title of the thread in which we both originally posted. It did use the term guilty.

[ET Awful]

28. Understood :) n/t

[StaggerLee]

23. Bada- boom

Badd-BING!

:evilgrin:

[oxbow]

59. This just higlights how important an independent judiciary is

If that judge was a neocon yes-man like Owens, these guys would have never been convicted. No GOP member would ever be convicted again if they could help it.

[oxbow]

60. This just higlights how important an independent judiciary is

If that judge was a neocon yes-man like Owens, these guys would have never been convicted. No GOP member would ever be convicted again if they could help it.

This is why we have to fight tooth and nail to get some moderate judges in the courts.

[Democrat 4 Ever]

29. Tom Delay's state political action committee was found guilty...

Tom DeLay's state political action committee was just found guilty of violating Texas campaign finance law.

A Texas judge found, in a civil trial, against DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, holding that the committee failed to report $600,000 in corporate contributions, in direct violation of Texas law.

This is the first time ever in a court of law Tom DeLay's fundraising empire has been held to account. There are two things you can do to make this news reverberate around the nation.

www.PCActionFund.org

From an email just received from PCAction Fund

[dave29]

30. Couldn'ta happened to a nicer PAC n/t

n/t

[geckosfeet]

31. No kidding ? Well what do you know.

I wonder if Tom himself was involved?

[oasis]

32. Negative news coverage makes that cockroach sweat and squirm.

I'm lovin' it.

[autorank]

33. Here we go. Now Earle indites DeLay & Fitzgerald goes for it

shortly there after. It's time for "management" (aka "The Force") to manifest and let * and co know that they need to exit stage left!

It's starting to be a great day for America!

[dweller]

34. so it is news

i just got the email too, wondered if it was a current ruling, didn't see it in LBN til now.

good, time to squash that cockroach.
dp

[KurtNYC]

35. Nail the Hammer!

[On the Road]

40. Or in Hunter Thompson's Words:

Bring down the million-pound shithammer!

[Javaman]

36. Do we still have the media blast ability to send this story out?

[Scout1071]

37. Time to drop the hammer on the hammer.

I won't be satisfied until I see that helmet haired facist doing the perp walk.

[Gman]

38. Merely a technicality

the Republican Texas Supreme Court from whence Priscilla Owens came will overturn it or at the very least reduce the award to zip.

[anitar1]

39. I love Ronnie Earle. n/t

[bunny planet]

42. Delay goes and the house of cards starts to come tumbling down.

Kickedy Kick Kick.....kick
:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Up2Late]

45. Judge Rules Against DeLay PAC (NPR)

This report is coming up on today's All Thing's Considered at aprox 4:20pm EDT

Judge Rules Against DeLay PAC

On-line Audio for this story will be available at approx. 7:30 p.m. ET


All Things Considered, May 26, 2005 · A judge rules that a political action committee formed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay did violate Texas law. Melissa Block talks to Wade Goodwyn about the case.

[meow2u3]

46. He doesn't have to worry. He has a get out of jail free card

who goes by the name of Pissilla Owen. :evilfrown:

[chelsea0011]

47. NPR?? That's the communist wing of PBS?

If things continue bad for Bush, look fopr DeLay to be thrown overboard to deflect attention from Bush.

[ailsagirl]

50. Texas judge finds DeLay's PAC GUILTY of breaking the law

TEXAS JUDGE FINDS DELAY’S POLITICAL COMMITTEE GUILTY OF VIOLATING CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW

Washington—The watchdog group Public Campaign Action Fund released the following statement from its National Campaigns Director, David Donnelly, regarding today’s ruling against Tom DeLay’s Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC):

“In a court of law DeLay’s TRMPAC was found to have concealed from the public record more than half a million dollars in corporate campaign donations, in violation of state law.

“This decision, with an impartial judge and all the evidence laid out, further underscores the need for the House Ethics Committee to appoint an outside counsel. The public will not trust Tom DeLay’s cronies in Congress to do what Judge Hart did today; specifically, he ruled on the facts, not the politics, of the case.

“Americans from across the nation need to ask themselves yet again whether they want a Congress led by a man with countless ethical violations, scandals, donors to repay, and, now, a guilty verdict against his own political committee.

http://dailydelay.blogspot.com/2005/05/public-campaign-action-fund-statement.html

[maddezmom]

54. Reuter's: Judge's ruling fuels DeLay's ethics woes

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A political committee formed by U.S. House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom DeLay broke Texas law by not disclosing more than $600,000 in mostly corporate contributions, a judge ruled in a case that adds to ethics questions swirling around the powerful Republican.

State District Judge Joe Hart in Austin made the ruling on Thursday in a lawsuit filed by five Democratic candidates defeated in 2002 by Republicans who received money from Texans for a Republican Majority, a political action committee founded by DeLay to help his party capture the Texas Legislature.

Hart awarded the Democrats a total of $196,660 in damages.

DeLay, the second-ranking Republican in the House, was not a defendant in the suit, which was filed against committee treasurer Bill Ceverha.

~snip~
more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050526/us_nm/politics_delay_dc

[converted_democrat]

55. Judge Rules DeLay PAC Broke Texas Law

The treasurer of a political action committee formed by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay violated Texas law by failing to report campaign contributions and expenditures, mostly from corporate donations, a state judge ruled Thursday.

State District Judge Joseph Hart's ruling came in a civil suit brought by five Democratic candidates defeated in 2002 by Republicans who received money from Texans for a Republican Majority. DeLay was not a defendant in the suit, which was filed against PAC treasurer Bill Ceverha.

The ruling is significant because it lays the legal foundation for a string of civil and criminal cases against the PAC and other DeLay associates. It also comes as mounting allegations of ethics violations dog DeLay.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4668955

[saltpoint]

56. I wonder if Rove has "delayed" shoving Tom overboard because --

-- Tom has copies of the crap Rove has pulled, and maybe a memo or two from Enron folks, and Halliburton, etc.

They are hoping somebody ELSE does the deed.

A few more well-timed "leaks" to the press should do it.

Delay will be Texas toast long before fundraising begins in earnest for the 2006 elections.

[chomskysright]

64. Texas toast: you're killing me...

[aquart]

57. Next step????????????????????

Draw it out, babies. Draw it out to November 2006. Play every toothsome moment over again. DeLay DeLay DeLay.

[Judi Lynn]

61. DeLay PAC's treasurer broke law, judge rules

May 26, 2005, 10:54PM

DeLay PAC's treasurer broke law, judge rules
Congressman's lawyer downplays decision; foes call for wider probe by House ethics panel
By R.G. RATCLIFFE and MICHAEL HEDGES
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
AUSTIN - A judge ruled Thursday that the treasurer of a political committee founded by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay violated state campaign-finance laws by not reporting more than $500,000 in corporate money used to influence Texas House elections.

Though state District Judge Joe Hart did not specifically rule on whether the money was raised and spent illegally, he declared it was all campaign money. Texas law bans the use of corporate or labor-union money to influence votes in state races.

Hart's ruling against Bill Ceverha immediately prompted calls from DeLay opponents — including former U.S. Rep. Chris Bell, D-Houston, and advocacy groups in Austin and Washington — for an expanded investigation into DeLay's activities by the U.S. House Ethics Committee.
(snip)

The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by five losing Democratic candidates against the treasurer of a DeLay-founded political committee: Texans for a Republican Majority. They claimed TRMPAC illegally used corporate money to defeat them.
(snip/...)

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/3200454
(Free registration is required)

Come back to Texas, Tom Delay

[Erika]

62. I wish all the Texans would leave D.C.

They are embarrassing our country to the extreme.