Category Archives: Scandalized!

We know that Sears and Diversified Collections Services have cut deals with the Travis County DA’s office to get the charges related to TRMPAC dropped in return for cooperation on the case. Now we see that progress is being made … Continue reading → Continue reading →

David Donnelly has an op-ed in today’s Chron about why Tom DeLay and the Republicans reversed course on the DeLay Rule. There are three reasons why DeLay caved on the provision, which was enacted by the House Republican conference back … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is a good start. The head of a state House investigating committee said Monday he will look into allegations of cronyism involving contracting at the Texas Health and Human Services Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission. “This is something … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Well, well, well. Sometimes outrage gets results. House Republicans suddenly reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstate a rule that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step aside if indicted by a … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Kimberly adds quite a bit to my post yesterday on Gregg Phillips and his self-enriching tendencies. She’s got a lot of good insight there, so check it out. Something I want to clarify: I thought the story that RG Ratcliffe … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Chron has a long and detailed story about the tenure of former Health and Human Services Director Gregg Phillips, who was responsible for overseeing the transition of much HHS work to private firms. Phillips, who helped write the infamous … Continue reading → Continue reading →

New Year, same old stories. Months before a construction company won a multibillion-dollar road deal in Texas, a man who had worked for the company before becoming a top aide to Gov. Rick Perry met at least five times with … Continue reading → Continue reading →

As noted yesterday, Republicans in Texas are once again threatening to remove the power to investigate election code violations from the Travis County District Attorney’s office to the Attorney General, presumably on the theory that they won’t have to worry … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Related to the previos item, John Colyandro, one of the three individuals indicted so far in the TRMPAC investigation, has filed a motion to dismiss the charges against him. John Colyandro contends he couldn’t have improperly received the contributions because … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via The Daily DeLay, Sears has joined Diversified Collections Services in making a deal with the Travis County District Attorney’s office in the TRMPAC case. Prosecutors have agreed to drop an illegal campaign contribution charge against Sears, Roebuck and Co. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This pretty much speaks for itself. Public Citizen is writing to provide the Department of Justice with significant new information regarding possible violations of 18 U.S.C. §201 (“Bribery of public officials and witnesses”) by current and former Westar Energy, Inc. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Tom sent me an email with a link to Andrew Ferguson’s article on Jack Abramoff in the Weekly Standard. I’d seen the link before, but the getting around to reading and blogging about it part got lost in the holiday … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Stakeholder points to this WaPo article which shows just how seriously the House Republican leadership takes its ethics. House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert is leaning toward removing the House ethics committee chairman, who admonished House Majority Leader Tom DeLay … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Boffoblog points me to this WaPo article updating the College Republicans fundraising scandal. I must say, I’m still waiting for someone to do a little forensic accounting and figure out where all the money went. As I noted here, it … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Check out the ad that the Public Campaign Action Fund is running in the Houston Press this week. It’d be cool to see more of that in the future. Nice job, folks. Continue reading →

Looks like the federal prosecutors for the money laundering trial of former Westar CEO David Wittig aren’t as good as the ones here on the Enron task force. The federal fraud trial of former Westar Energy Inc. chief executive David … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Daily DeLay has a long excerpt from a National Journal article about Tom DeLay’s status from the perspective of the other members of the House. This bit, about the implementation of the “DeLay Rule”, is pretty intriguing. [Some GOP … Continue reading → Continue reading →

If there’s one thing I don’t understand about the guilty plea copped by former Lee Brown chief of staff Oliver Spellman over a bribery charge, it’s this: Spellman, charged just last week, admitted that he accepted $2,000 from a consultant … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via The Stakeholder, I see that attorneys representing two of Tom DeLay’s indicted cronies are none too happy about the squealer. Charges were dismissed Thursday against California-based Diversified Collection Services, Inc., accused in the campaign finance investigation that has so … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Is one of the companies that was indicted along with DeLay cronies Colyandron, Ellis, and Robold about to turn state’s evidence on The Hammer? Well, via the Stakeholder, one of them is at least talking to Ronnie Earle. A company … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s something you don’t see every day: Tom DeLay returning campaign contributions. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s legal expense fund accepted improper contributions from two registered lobbyists in 2001 and this week returned the checks, totaling $3,500, fund trustee Brent … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Stakeholder has a nice piece about the recent $100K donation from a private prison company to his favored charity. In case you’re not sure why that’s a bad thing, this WaPo story will help you sort it out. Also … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Here’s an update to the College Republicans story I’ve noted recently (see here and here). Looks like CRNC President Eric Hoplin is coming under pressure to get his organization out of the ridiculous contract they’ve signed with Response Dynamics (RDI), … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’m thinking we might have ourselves a theme in this. Politicians in Congress are responsible for the leaders they choose. Their choices reflect their moral values. Every law enforcement officer depends on the moral values and integrity of society for … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Reports that anyone may be off the hook in the Travis County grand jury investigations are premature. Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox, who is leading the investigation, said all individuals associated with Texans for a Republican Majority are still potential … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Via Political Wire, an anonymous source has told CBS News that Tom DeLay will not be indicted in Travis County. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, appears to have dodged a bullet. The powerful GOP chieftain is unlikely to be … Continue reading → Continue reading →

This is the chapter that Lou Dubose and Jan Reid would have added to their book “The Hammer” if publication had been delayed until now. It’s a good overview of where things stand in the Senate investigation of DeLay cronies … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Good damn question, from Mark Kleiman. Is anyone rallying the law enforcement folks behind Ronnie Earle? I’ve only met him at a few conferences, but I know his reputation, and he rates about as high on professionalism as any D.A. … Continue reading → Continue reading →

I’d noticed Tom DeLay’s use of the phrase “politics of personal destruction” in his defense of the newly adopted Tom DeLay Scoundrel Protection Act (which has been simply designated the Tom DeLay Rule in the blogs), but I hadn’t twigged … Continue reading → Continue reading →

The Tom DeLay Scoundrel Protection Act is now official Republican policy. House Republicans moved to protect House Majority Leader Tom DeLay from a Texas political corruption case, deciding Wednesday that he will not be automatically forced to give up his … Continue reading → Continue reading →

DeLay cronies Jack Abramoff and Mike Scanlon have been sued by the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana over the $32 million the two men bilked from them. The lawsuit, filed in state court in Louisiana by the Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana, … Continue reading → Continue reading →

No one should be the least bit surprised if this comes to pass: House Republicans have until noon today to propose any rules changes to inoculate Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) from losing his leadership position should he be indicted … Continue reading → Continue reading →

Another article on the College Republicans’ fundraising controversy, and frankly it raises more questions than it answers. First, we see that CRNC President Eric Hoplin has decided that avoiding the press won’t make them go away. Hoplin, 26, whose job … Continue reading → Continue reading →

One of the things that I never got around to blogging about in the runup to the election was a little fundraising scandal that’s percolating in the ranks of the national College Republicans. Here’s an update to that story. Officials … Continue reading → Continue reading →