The First Abramoff Casualty

by emptywheel

Tom DeLay will resign from the House, probably in May or June.

And there was rejoicing throughout the land.

But while we're whooping it up, let's make sure DeLay doesn't get to spin this his way. He'd like you to think, you see, that the Abramoff scandal, and specifically Tony Rudy's plea deal last week, had nothing to do with his resignation.

Former aides and sources close to DeLay said his decision was motivated not by Rudy's guilty plea but by DeLay's concerns that he might lose his suburban Houston seat to his Democratic opponent, former representative Nick Lampson, and his belief that another Republican could win instead.

But make no mistake. The Rudy plea deal was the final straw. And the decision was not DeLay's alone:

One DeLay ally said that the lawmaker had been considering leaving Congress since he gave up his leadership post in January and that he had been persuaded to make the break last week, when his former deputy chief of staff, Tony Rudy, pleaded guilty to corruption charges.

Rather, his colleagues saw the Rudy deal and made the same conclusion that the left (particularly Josh Marshall) has made: Buckham is next, and soon thereafter will go Tom DeLay.

So far, the press has been pretty good, including the connection to the Rudy plea in the lede of every story I've seen. Let's make sure they stay that way. The Abramoff scandal took Tom DeLay down, not his own political savvy.

Next up, Bob Ney.

Update:

Well, Mike Allen's piece in Time lets DeLay spin it his way. No mention of Rudy in the entire article, plus these two doozy paragraphs that try to prove his innocence.

DeLay's decision means that he no longer has to fear any further sanctions from the House ethics committee, which admonished him   three times in 1994 for official conduct deemed inappropriate by members, but has been paralyzed for more than a year and has taken no action in the more recent scandal. Sources close to DeLay said he remains under investigation by the Justice Department prosecutors, who now have Abramoff's cooperation, but the lawmaker said he has nothing to fear from the feds. "I paid lawyers to investigate me as if they were prosecuting me," he said. "They found nothing. There is absolutely nothing — no connection with Jack Abramoff that is illegal, dishonest, unethical or against the House rules."

Richard Cullen, a former U.S. attorney who is DeLay's Washington lawyer, told TIME that in December, the lawmaker's legal team turned over to the Justice Department about 1,000 e-mails from his office computers. "This was to show we had nothing to hide," Cullen said. "They were everything we felt related to the Abramoff investigation. None are from DeLay. They're from staffers, showing their give and take with Abramoff. There was nothing that I said to myself or DeLay, wow, this is really bad for him. Prosecutors are looking to see whether anyone on the government payroll, whether a congressman or a staffer, performed official acts in return for a bribe or gratuity." [emphasis mine]

I suppose Allen can be forgiven getting spun, since this story is technically the scoop on the resignation. Grumble grumble.

One more comment. I'm curious about the way Cullen describes these emails. None are from DeLay. They were turned over willingly. Does that mean they chose not to turn over a bunch more, emails that are from DeLay? Did they try to hide a smoking gun with their pre-emptive disclosure?

Just wondering.

Update: Jim E and Newsie point out below that Tom DeLay is one of those email-impaired types. So I'm wondering to no great end. But that's okay, now I'm wondering (again) how anyone can function without email...

Comments

[DemFromCT]

And does anyone think this is the end of DeLay's legal trouble? What stupid reporting to think further indictments won't out DeLay, the architect of the current Republican majority in the House, back in the news.

And does anyone think this is the lasr Abramoff indictment?

This will buy Republicans a week at best. Once the smoke clears, and people realize they have to rely on Boehner, Frist and Bush for leadership, the rats will start looking for an exit.

[emptywheel]

NPR included the Abramoff connection (though I don't think they mentioned Rudy by name, just position). But they presented it as this great A-Ha. About 1 minute into the coverage. "Well why now then." "Hey, guess what? One of DeLay's associates pled guilty three days ago!"

[Kagro X]

This is how you handle DeLay's statements if you're Mike Allen: DeLay denies any wrongdoing.

Done. Anything more, given the material he was provided, is unjustified.

And how pathetic a commentary on the House Ethics Committee is this, by the way? Three "admonishments" in the past, and no action at all for a year and a half on a case that's caused the Majority Leader of the House to resign from Congress and sent his staff to prison.

[emptywheel]

Yeah, I guess you're right, Kagro.

I like Josh Marshall's idea, of going after the folks who voted for DeLay's rule. It's a really valuable use of a voice vote, IMO, to link DeLAy to those who tried to protect him.

After all, Buckham almost certainly WILL go down. And then DeLay. If we can generate some media attention on it in time for the DeLay announcement, then the resignation will only help them by making it a special election rather than a regular.

[Sally]

DeLay just became an instant millionaire as the lobbyists line up to buy him.

[emptywheel]

Sally,

I was thinking of starting a pool.

Though, with DeLay you might only get about 4 months of lobbying before he goes to the slammer. So you don't want to give him a big annual contract or anything.

[Jim E.]

"I'm curious about the way Cullen describes these emails. None are from DeLay. They were turned over willingly. Does that mean they chose not to turn over a bunch more, emails that are from DeLay?"

I don't think DeLay uses e-mail. So while his subordinates' e-mail might have damning stuff, there are no e-mails actually written by DeLay.

[kim]

Oh Holy Day!

[Newsie8200]

Jim E. is right. The Newsweek article that came out the other day noted that DeLay doesn't email.

[emptywheel]

Thanks Jim E and Newsie. Noted accordingly.

[TalkLeft]

DeLay apparently doesn't e-mail, according to his lawyer. That's why there are none from him. From Newsweek :

[DeLay lawyer] Cullen says DeLay had no knowledge of improper dealings by his aides. (He also says the e-mails he gave the Feds don't include any directly from DeLay because the congressman, unlike his aides, doesn't e-mail.) DeLay "has never taken any official action based on anything other than his conscience," he says.

[Sara]

I think the issue to use against Republicans is who took money from DeLay's PACs? Unlike with the voice vote, the receipt of PAC money is clearly tracable -- in fact I would give it a name, "Money from the DeLay Temple of Corruption.