Word out of Austin is there's another indictment coming down TODAY.... Money laundering... Dunno which grand jury this time...
The source is someone at the Austin American-Statesman newsroom.... Like anyone, they could be wrong, but they are in a position to know....
Sorry for the short diary. That's all I got. Stay tuned.
Update [2005-10-3 18:2:36 by ATL Dem]: AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A Texas grand jury has indicted Rep. Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering.
Update [2005-10-3 18:11:17 by ATL Dem]: AP continues: A different grand jury whose term ended last week indicted DeLay on a conspiracy charge.
DeLay indicted on money-laundering charge
Travis prosecutors pursued new charge to fix problem with last week's conspiracy count.
By Laylan Copelin
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, October 03, 2005
Travis County prosecutors rushed Monday to fix problems with an indictment against U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay by charging the Sugar Land Republican with the first-degree felony of money laundering.
Last week a Travis County grand jury ended its term by indicting DeLay on a charge that accused him of conspiring to violate state campaign finance laws. The problem with that indictment, according to DeLay's lawyers, was that the conspiracy law did not apply to the election code in 2002. The Texas Legislature changed the law, which went into effect Sept. 1, 2003.
That left Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle and his assistants presenting a complicated case to a group of grand jurors on their first day of meeting.
Prosecutors hoped to fix the problem by reindicting DeLay on charges that he conspired to launder corporate money into political donations. In 2002, the conspiracy law applied to money laundering.
DeLay's lawyers knew about the problem with the indictment but waited until midafternoon Monday to file a brief asking a judge to dismiss it.
DeLay's filing represented an attempt at a quick knockout of the case so DeLay, the former U.S. House majority leader, could return to his leadership post in Congress.
In the brief, DeGuerin argued that the conspiracy statute did not apply to the election code until the Legislature amended the law, effective Sept. 1, 2003, after the 2002 election.
In his letter, DeGuerin noted that DeLay was forced by Republican Party rules to step down as majority leader while he fought the charges.
"Since the indictment charges no offense, and since you have professed not to be politically motivated in bringing this indictment, I request that you immediately agree to dismiss this indictment so that the political consequences can be reversed," DeGuerin wrote.
The district attorney's office had not returned calls for comment by late afternoon.
Last week a Travis County grand jury indicted DeLay on a state jail felony charge of conspiring with two of his associates, John Colyandro of Austin and Jim Ellis of Washington, to break state campaign finance laws. Specifically, the three were accused of agreeing to send $190,000 of corporate money to the Republican National Committee, which, in turn, donated the same amount of noncorporate money to seven Texas candidates' campaigns at the direction of Ellis, according to the indictment.
The new indictment is based on the same set of allegations.
State law generally prohibits corporate money being spent in connection with a campaign. DeLay's lawyers say there was nothing illegal about the transaction.
There also probably will be a fight over whether the three-year deadline for indicting DeLay has expired.
In a letter to Earle, DeGuerin said DeLay is withdrawing his waiver of the statute of limitations to investigate him. Last month DeLay signed that waiver in an attempt to head off an indictment.
The date on the $190,000 check to the committee is Sept. 13, 2002. The committee checks cut to candidates were dated Oct. 4, 2002.