« Party Hopping | Main | James Moore On Rathergate »
September 20, 2007
Former DeLay Staffer Under Scrutiny
Most Texans have put former Republican Congressman Tom DeLay out of mind since he exited the political stage after the 2006 general election. Legal inquiries focusing on him and some of those close to him, however, continue.
Back in June, the state's highest criminal court upheld the dismissal of a conspiracy charge against DeLay and two associates. (It should be noted that the all-Republican court upheld the dismissal by only a 5-4 margin -- so much for party loyalty.) Another state charge against DeLay remains intact, and federal investigations continue as well.
Evidence of those continuing federal investigations surfaced today, with the subpoenaing of payroll records from former DeLay Chief of Staff, Ed Buckham. According to Politico's piece, the subpoena "is the first formal notification that Buckham is the focus of a federal corruption probe by the Justice Department." Whoops.
It will be interesting to see where this latest development leads. Buckham is very close to DeLay personally, and it seems the circle continues to close in around the former Congressman. So, lest any of you thought that Mr. DeLay had skipped off into happy retirement, not so. Whether he eventually faces serious further legal jeopardy remains to be seen, but the meter for those highly paid teams of lawyers -- both in Texas and Washington -- continues to run. The bills are piling up, the book didn't sell, no TV network wants him... hardly a recipe for a comfortable retirement. Karma's a bitch, ain't it?
Posted by houtopia at September 20, 2007 09:22 PM