home

Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems

By TChris, Section Tom DeLay
Posted on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 07:31:07 AM EST
Tags: (all tags)
Share This: Digg! StumbleUpon del.icio.us reddit reddit

by TChris

Barring a successful appeal, Tom DeLay's name must stay on the ballot as the GOP candidate for the congressional seat he abandoned. It's widely assumed that DeLay, despite the distraction of a pending indictment, will campaign for the seat if that decision isn't overturned, but Roll Call (by way of Raw Story) reports that DeLay has been spending his campaign funds on lawyers, leaving him with little cash on hand to mount a campaign.

DeLay has only $641,000 in his campaign account, compared to $2.2 million available to the Democratic candidate, Nick Lampson. And DeLay's need for money to solve his legal woes won't end soon.

With legal bills still mounting -- DeLay faces a local trial later this year on campaign finance charges and the probe of ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff continues -- he was originally expected to use all his leftover funds to pay a legal team that now includes lawyers from nine different firms.

DeLay has done his party no favors.

Even if the appeal is successful, an as yet unknown Republican candidate will in all probability have less than three months to organize a campaign against a well-funded Democratic opponent.

The British statesman and philosopher Edmund Burke, one of the fathers of modern conservative thought, observed, "All men that are ruined, are ruined on the side of their natural propensities." So it is with Tom DeLay, whose abandonment of the principles that propelled Republicans to victory in 1994, threatens to reduce the Republican majority in the House of Representatives by one more seat.

< Graham Argues For Military Trials For Detainees | Accountability and the Public's Right to Know >

  • The Online Magazine with Liberal coverage of crime-related political and injustice news

  • Contribute To TalkLeft


    • Display: Sort:
    Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems | 7 comments (7 topical)
    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#1)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 07:52:39 AM EST
    Uhh ... using campaign funds for personal legal defense? I thought the laws were pretty strict on what campaign funds can be used for.

    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#2)
    by Repack Rider on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 08:10:05 AM EST
    I thought the laws were pretty strict on what campaign funds can be used for.
    Laws? This is TOM DELAY. Laws are for little people.

    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#3)
    by Talkleft Visitor on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 08:15:41 AM EST
    This is just a taste of things to come for him and all his buddies. They're all flat busted. Unfortunately some of them -- the ones running the White House -- are determined to take our military down with them. An utter humiliation by Iran et al. in the Middle East may be just what we need anyway. We may actually start taking care of real business in this country.

    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#4)
    by squeaky on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 08:59:27 AM EST
    lightening-they are allowed to use the funds for legal defense...go figure. That is why Delay made a big push for donations and then moved out of the state hoping to be disqualified in the race. He, wrongly thought that he would be able to use the campaign money soley for his defense. He obviously miscalculated. He will lose his appeal, lose the race and lose the corruption case.

    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#5)
    by magster on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 09:14:14 AM EST
    In a District backward enough to keep reelecting Tom Delay, I'm worried Delay would be elected if he's forced back in. Has any firm done any polling on this scenario?

    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#6)
    by roxtar on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 10:09:28 AM EST
    Bob Ney has also been cranking the handle on the fundraising machine, anticipating enormous legal bills....and it couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

    Re: Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems (none / 0) (#7)
    by Rick B on Tue Jul 18, 2006 at 12:03:37 PM EST
    OK. You got my curiosity up, so I checked the basis for using campaign funds for legal defenses. As in so many things Republican, Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham has provided the precedent in this for his fellow Congresspersons with heavy legal bills. From Federal Advisory Opinion 2005-11 [.PDF file] By the Federal Election Commission Washington D.C. 20463 September 26, 2005 "The Commission concluded that the Committee may use campaign funds to pay for the legal fees and expenses incurred in connection with the grand jury investigation and legal proceedings that may arise from this investigation because the investigation concerns allegations that are related to Representative Cunningham's campaign activities or his duties as a Federal officeholder and the legal fees and expenses would not exist irrespective of Representative Cunningham's campaign or duties as a Federal officeholder. The Committee may also use campaign funds to pay for the legal fees and expenses incurred in responding to the press regarding the grand jury and legal proceedings that may arise from this investigation."

    Tom DeLay's Cash Flow Problems | 7 comments (7 topical)