Sep 21, 12:15 AM EDT
Ethics Committee Ends Tom DeLay Fact-Finding
By LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- House ethics committee leaders said Monday they soon will present the panel with information on Majority Leader Tom DeLay's conduct and recommend whether to undertake a full investigation.
The announcement from Chairman Joel Hefley, R-Colo., and Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., did not say whether the committee would be convened this week on a complaint that DeLay misused his office for political purposes.
"In the near future we will be presenting to the committee the information we have obtained and recommendations for committee action," the written statement said.
A three-part complaint was filed by a Democratic lawmaker defeated in the primary, Rep. Chris Bell of Texas. The 10-member committee, equally divided by party, could send the allegations to an investigative subcommittee, dismiss some allegations while ordering a probe of others or throw out the complaint.
Two allegations directly involve use of DeLay's congressional office.
One accuses the Texas Republican of soliciting corporate contributions in return for help on legislation. A second contends he improperly used his staff to contact U.S. aviation authorities and ask them to track down Texas Democratic legislators who had fled the state while trying to thwart a DeLay-backed redistricting plan.
The third allegation accuses DeLay of using his political action committees to distribute money from corporations to Texas legislative candidates in violation of state law.
DeLay has replied to the committee, but has not released his response publicly.
In related developments:
-A grand jury in Austin, Texas, was expected to meet Tuesday in its investigation of election spending by a political action committee associated with DeLay, Texans for a Republican Majority. Bell's complaint contends the same political committee sent $190,000 in corporate money to the Republican National Committee in an illegal scheme to give money to Texas state legislative candidates. The grand jury is looking into similar allegations.
-Bell asked the ethics committee, formally the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, to subpoena a report that could provide insight into one of his allegations. The report, prepared for Westar Energy, investigated the company's 2002 plan to influence pending federal legislation by making political donations.
-A group seeking an independent investigator in the case ran newspaper ads this week in Hefley's and Mollohan's home states. The ads accuse the committee members of keeping their heads in the sand and "choosing to play ostrich rather than investigate" DeLay.
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