By Robb Orr, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX –
Along with co-defendants John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Sugar Land) today appeared for the first time before Judge Pat Priest to wade through pre-filed motions in his criminal trial. Defense attorneys made their case for dismissing indictments of criminal conspiracy and money-laundering against their client while prosecutors argued that DeLay be held accountable for breaking state election laws.
Before hearing any arguments, Priest noted that today's hearing would focus solely on non-evidentiary motions filed by defense attorneys. DeLay's attorney Dick DeGuerin said that charges against his client were unfounded and chided prosecutors for causing confusion when filing indictments against DeLay on Sept. 13th and Oct. 28th. DeGuerin said people were unsure if the second indictment was a reindictment and if Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle was "abandoning the prior released indictment."
DeGuerin restated the charges against DeLay and argued that no crime had occurred and no crime was charged. He questioned whether money-laundering applies only to transfers of cash and not transfers in the form of checks, referring to the $190,000 check delivered from DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC) to the Republican National Committee (RNC), which then distributed the same amount of money to seven 2002 Texas House candidates.
DeGuerin contented that RNC keeps its bank accounts segregated and that when funds were received from TRMPAC, RNC made sure that funds sent to Texas were distributed in accordance with state laws. But without a clear definition of whether check donations are acceptable under the Texas Election Code, he argued that the money-laundering indictment holds no merit.
But prosecutor Rick Reed argued that RNC did not keep its bank accounts separate and that the Election Code clearly states that a corporate donation can be used for expenditures but not given directly to a candidate, which is what happened in the 2002 Texas House races.
Reed also disputed the suggestion that money-laundering does not apply to checks. The Texas Legislature amended the Election Code in 2003 to clarify that money laundering applies to the transfer of "funds," he said, which was a codification of the law, not a change in law. Therefore, argued Reed, current law reflects a clear definition that a transfer of funds in the form of a check constitutes money-laundering.
In light of all the pre-filed motions in the case, Priest concluded the hearing by stating that he would not rule on anything today. He said he would likely rule in two weeks and that if the case goes to trial, it probably will not start before next year.