Well now, this is interesting. With all the hoopla about Rod Blagojevich, we've plumb forgotten about the ongoing Abramoff scandal. Let's remember that the Governor of Illinois is little more than a neighborhood thug compared to the systematic Republican "culture of corruption" of Jack Abramoff, Tom DeLay, and their many accomplices. There's still a steady trickle of news stories about new pleas and indictments related to that snake pit of influence peddling and other malfeasance.
It's been years since Tom Delay got indicted Texas - the Lone Star State's campaign laws aren't easy to break, either - and one hardly ever hears news about that case. Has it gone to trial? Surely I would have heard the verdict had there been one?
Dunno 'bout that, but Anti-Corruption Republican in Texas noticed that DeLay's wife Christine had a subpoena (PDF) served on her last week to be deposed at Federal Court in Houston. What might that be about?
It's a civil case, Corwin Teltschik vs. Williams & Jensen PLLC, et. al. . Williams & Jensen are of interest as a key player in the Abramoff money laundering schemes. And Teltschik was treasurer of ARMPAC - Tom Delay's Americans for a Republican Majority PAC - one of those organizations designed to perpetuate that ephemeral "Permanent Republican Majority" that they were all hopped up about awhile back, before so many of 'em got busted - or at least booted out of office.
Now there's been a falling out amongst the thieves. Teltschik is accusing his erstwhile co-conspirators associates of damaging his reputation. I couldn't begin to evaluate the merits of the case, but it does seem to me that once you've thrown yourself in with the likes of Delay, you've perhaps already abandoned any concern about your reputation. At any rate, this trial could prove to be informative and entertaining vis-a-vis the financial tricks of that monumentally corrupt bunch.
Mrs. DeLay (represented by Brent Perry, a trustee for hubby Tom's Legal Defense Fund) has moved to permit only very limited questions for the deposition. That's her second choice - what's she's after is to quash the subpoena (pdf again) entirely.
With the plaintiff arguing that Mrs. Delay convinced him to come to work at ARMPAC as its (naive?) treasurer, there's bound to be all kinds of strangeness slither out as this case moves through the court.
ARC points out an interesting tidbit in that Motion to Quash:
Any testimony regarding her dealings with her husband may be protected by spousal immunity, and attorney-client privilege may attach to any dealings with Williams & Jensen, a Washington, DC law firm.
Court proceedings get complicated when lawyers are defendants.
This little-noticed civil suit (Google news turns up zero when I searched on Christine Delay, and even on Teltschik) promises to unearth all sorts of juicy info.
Who's got the popcorn?