Posted on 10/27/2010 3:49:39 PM PDT by deport
AUSTIN, Texas — A jury was chosen Tuesday in the trial of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, a once powerful but polarizing politician accused of illegally financing Texas GOP legislative races in 2002.
The panel of six men and six women, along with two alternates, was selected after attorneys spent more than eight hours quizzing potential jurors about whether their political beliefs could interfere in their ability to make an impartial decision. Most said it wouldn't affect them........
DeLay is charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted of money laundering, he faces from five years to life in prison. The conspiracy charge carries a prison term of two to 20 years. DeLay has chosen for the judge, not the jury, to sentence him if he's convicted.
DeLay and two associates — Jim Ellis and John Colyandro — are accused of taking $190,000 in corporate money collected by a state political action committee that DeLay started and illegally funneling it through the Republican National Committee in Washington to help elect GOP state legislative candidates in 2002.
Under Texas law, corporate money cannot be directly used for political campaigns.......
DeLay was once one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, earning the nickname "the Hammer" for his heavy-handed style.
...
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(Excerpt) Read more at statesman.com ...
No one died, or suffered physical or mental anguish or impairment, and yet such a “crime” can merit life imprisonment!!?? Incomprehensible!!
What trial??? Didn’t he already spend time in jail?
I once did government “fund” accounting and this sounds like they probably did a “fund-swap” which happens all the time. You receive $190K that can be used only for one purpose and that money replaces funds that you send out that can be used for the other purposes.
What trial??? Didn’t he already spend time in jail?
Not yet anyways. The Feds were also investigating him but later dropped their efforts.
You mean Ronnie Earle’s fishing expedition may have caught something? He has been fishing for so long I figured he would have run out of bait by now. What a partisan hack!
This is the farce of the century.
Nothing compared to all the corruption on the left that no one seems to care about.
WHAT money Laundering??? I haven’t even HEARD of him doing money laundering!! I thought this crap was over YEARS AGO!!
The next arrow in their payback quiver will be to dig up Nixon and impeach him.
I thought this crap was over YEARS AGO!!
Nope this just has taken this long to get to the courts.
They sure hated DeLay. The only way they could get him was through abuse of the legal system.
I hope Ronnie Earle suffers a lot before he sheds these earthly coils.
I hope Ronnie Earle suffers a lot before he sheds these earthly coils.
I think he got a little come uppence just this past primary season. He retired at the end of 2008 and ran for Lt. Gov. in the democratic primary in Feb of this year. He got only 34% of the dem primary vote. So I guess he found out he wasn’t the golden boy he may have thought he was.
From what I understand, they are trying to prosecute him based on a law that was not in affect at the time (but is now).
I don’t see how that would be feasible to use a law that wasn’t in place at the time the alledge violations occurred. This thing has been back and forth with appeals etc and is finally getting to trial.
Wow, I never knew that Earle ran for lt. gov. Missed that one. But I don’t trust Austin juries.
Delay is not the first of his victims.
I agree. This sleaze bag carries political vendettas at will.
That is correct. I think this will - or should be thrown out without a trial, but the current dim DA will want to try to give ronnie earle something for his retirement.
Apparently they tried to get the charges dismissed but to no avail according the the following:
Tom DeLay will be tried on money laundering charges in Travis County, beginning on Oct. 26, Senior Judge Pat Priest ruled today.
His ruling came at the end of two-days of pre-trial hearings in which he ruled against the defense motions to dismiss the charges against the former U.S. House majority leader.
Just read the comments there, and you can see why they want the trial in Austin.
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