TX Judge Rules Against TRMPAC Treasurer – CREW Calls on Ethics Committee To Investigate DeLay’s Involvement

26 May 2005 // Washington, DC – Earlier today, Texas State District Judge Joseph Hart issued a decision finding that the treasurer of Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (TRMPAC), a PAC founded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, violated Texas campaign laws by failing to report hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

Last year, former Rep. Chris Bell (D-TX) filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee alleging, among other things, that under the leadership of Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), TRMPAC laundered illegal corporate contributions for the purpose of influencing Texas legislative races and failed to properly disclose its financial activity. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) drafted the complaint for Rep. Bell.

The House Ethics Committee, while admonishing Rep. DeLay on two of the three counts contained in Rep. Bell’s complaint, chose to defer action on the allegations pertaining to TRMPAC pending action in Texas. Now that a Texas court has found TRMPAC liable, the Ethics Committee can no longer justify deferring consideration of Rep. Bell’s complaint.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, called on the Ethics Committee to take up the Bell complaint immediately. "The House Ethics Committee has run out of excuses for avoiding an investigation into Rep. DeLay’s involvement with TRMPAC. Now that a Texas court has held that TRMPAC violated the law, the Ethics Committee finally must consider the extent to which Tom DeLay was involved in the conspiracy to violate Texas campaign laws in order to gerrymander Texas Congressional districts."

Although today’s decision does not specifically refer to the Majority Leader, DeLay created TRMPAC, he was the head of its advisory board, and he was integrally involved in its administration. According to deposition testimony of TRMPAC’s executive director John Colyando, DeLay was involved in regular conference calls "to discuss matters related to the overall administration of the committee."

RELATED LINKS

DeLay Ethics Complaint

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For more information on CREW please contact Naomi Seligman by phone at 202.588.5565 or press@citizensforethics.org.

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