Good afternoon . . .
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the target of several ethics investigations by the House of Representatives. Most of the charges surround several trips DeLay and his staff took that may have received funding from a lobbyist. Under House rules a registered lobbyist cannot pay for trips, or just about anything else, taken by a House member.
Today A Texas judge has added an additional problem for Mr. DeLay about a political committee formed in Texas by DeLay.
District Judge Joe Hart ruled the committee should have reported $500,000 in corporate cash. The judge found that the money raised by Texans for a Republican Majority was to influence Texas election and, therefore, fell under the provision of the election code.
Hart did not rule on whether the committee spent the money illegally only that the group violated state law by not reporting the funds to the Texas Election Commission.
Hart imposed damages and attorneys fees of $196,660, which will be divided among the five losing Democratic candidates who brought the suit.
In another case a Travis County grand jury has indicted three DeLay associates on charges of illegally raising corporate funds.
Judge rules against DeLay PAC - (United Press International)
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NBC's Law & Order:Criminal Intent has taken a giant leap to the left on the season finale aired on Wednesday.
The story line attempted to link the killer of a judge, who claimed to be a white supremacist, to supporters of Tom DeLay.
According to the Drudge Report (take it with a grain of salt), "Maybe we should put out and APB for somebody in a Tom DeLay T-Shirt," declares a character during the drama.
Congressional sources say the House Majority Leader will send a letter of complaint to NBC and the producers of the Law & Order series.
He should do more than that. It is widely known that L&W:CI star Vincent DiNofrio could not get over the loss of the election by John Kerry. Sources have revealed DiNofrio was hospitalized because he could not "cope" with the loss. Several episodes had to be delayed until DiNofrio was well enough to continue.
While this reporter is not saying DiNofrio had anything to do with last night's script, the language in the script is at best defamatory. Although DeLay is a public figure and it is difficult to defame a public figure, the tone of the script and the episode show a willful disregard for the truth. That could cost NBC and the producers of L&W millions.
So far, NBC has no comment.
DRUDGE REPORT FLASH 2005�
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The battle is beginning over the proposed list of base closings issued by the Pentagon on May 13.
Senators and governors are scrambling to receive information from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld on the process and data that led to the list given to the Base Closing and Realignment Commission (BRAC).
Nearly tow dozen senators from across the country have sent Secretary Rumsfeld a letter saying they need to know how the Pentagon ranked the bases and determined their military value.
Governors from 14 states have written a similar letter to President Bush asking for similar information. The governors' letter cited a federal law that requires the BRAC commission to release the data no later than seven days after it release. The governors are requesting a delay in further hearings until the information and data has been received.
The members of the BRAC commission have announced regional hearings to begin early next month.
Senators Press for Base-Closure Data - Yahoo! News
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More tomorrow.
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