Some of you may remember how Tom DeLay was pilloried by democrats as symbolic of republican corruption. DeLay was prosecuted by a highly partisan democrat district attorney in Austin, Texas, a notoriously liberal stain on an otherwise red state.
DeLay's supposed crime involved a common if unsavory bit of political backscratching. Corporate donations are prohibited in Texas, as in many states. He was alleged to arrange for some friendly companies to donate to the RNC which in turn cut a check to the state party or an individual candidate, I forget which it was. At the time, I said the prosecution was unfair and even the Washington Post agreed with me as I recall.
DeLay was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, which fortunately was stayed pending appeal. His political career of course was ruined. Now the Texas appellate court has ruled that the facts did not constitute a crime and that the prosecution should never have even gone forward. DeLay is vindicated legally, but a once promising political career is ruined, plus he is out the costs of a defesne and appeal, plus having a prison snetence hanging over his head for a couple of years.
This is the sort of political hardball democrats are good at. Republicans, for some reason, never seem able to pull it off. Consider that the democrats and media managed to make a big scandal out of Bush simply replacing a few U. S. Attorneys who were not cutting it. It's business as usual when a partisan DA does a Duke lacross case number on a prominent republican however.
http://www.kvue.com/news/state/224406971.html
DeLay's supposed crime involved a common if unsavory bit of political backscratching. Corporate donations are prohibited in Texas, as in many states. He was alleged to arrange for some friendly companies to donate to the RNC which in turn cut a check to the state party or an individual candidate, I forget which it was. At the time, I said the prosecution was unfair and even the Washington Post agreed with me as I recall.
DeLay was convicted and sentenced to three years in prison, which fortunately was stayed pending appeal. His political career of course was ruined. Now the Texas appellate court has ruled that the facts did not constitute a crime and that the prosecution should never have even gone forward. DeLay is vindicated legally, but a once promising political career is ruined, plus he is out the costs of a defesne and appeal, plus having a prison snetence hanging over his head for a couple of years.
This is the sort of political hardball democrats are good at. Republicans, for some reason, never seem able to pull it off. Consider that the democrats and media managed to make a big scandal out of Bush simply replacing a few U. S. Attorneys who were not cutting it. It's business as usual when a partisan DA does a Duke lacross case number on a prominent republican however.
http://www.kvue.com/news/state/224406971.html
