The Indictment Was Earle's Finish Line
Media Blog
Stephen Spruiell Reporting
I’m going to write more later about this Tom DeLay interview with Wolf Blitzer, but I wanted to post the video and this comment from DeLay as soon as possible, because it’s important that people know what’s really going on right now.
Here’s the key exchange:
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BLITZER: Under Texas law, a prosecutor does not have to release the evidence that he or she has in the indictment, and there is no evidence in this indictment that specifically backs up the claim that this prosecutor, Ronnie Earle, is making. Have your attorneys, though, in conversations with him, or have you directly in conversations with Ronnie Earle — you met with him in August — been told what evidence they may or may not have?
DELAY: Absolutely not. They don’t have any evidence. All they wanted to do is indict me so that I would have to step aside as Majority Leader — temporarily. That’s the only reason I got indicted. If the Republican Conference did not have that rule, I would not have been indicted. All they cared about was getting this indictment. They don’t care about the case later.
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This is the key to understanding the DeLay indictment: For Ronnie Earle, it is Game Over. He has already won. He doesn’t have to prove anything against Tom DeLay in court. He can’t. As the editorial on NRO today outlines, he has no proof that DeLay knew about the money transfers before they happened, and even if he did, the transfers themselves were not illegal.
I’ll write more later about the money transfers and what Wolf Blitzer and other journalists keep getting wrong about them. But for right now, it’s important to realize the cynical, political nature of this prosecution. The indictment was the finish line. Ronnie Earle’s race ended yesterday. Now he plays a waiting game. The last thing he wants to do is drag this baloney into a courtroom — he's going to look like a fool when the judge throws it out. But the damage to DeLay and the GOP has been done. That's what we call taking one for the team.
Video here.
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