These charges have no basis in the facts or the law. This 
    is just another example of Ronnie Earle misusing his 
    office for partisan vendettas. Despite the clearly 
    political agenda of this prosecutor, Congressman DeLay 
    has cooperated with officials throughout the entire 
    process. Even in the last two weeks, Ronnie Earle himself 
    had acknowledged publicly that Mr. DeLay was not a target 
    of his investigation. However, as with many of Ronnie 
    Earle's previous partisan investigations, Ronnie Earle 
    refused to let the facts or the law get in the way of his 
    partisan desire to indict a political foe. 

    This purely political investigation has been marked by 
    illegal grand jury leaks, a fundraising speech by Ronnie 
    Earle for Texas Democrats that inappropriately focused on 
    the investigation, misuse of his office for partisan 
    purposes, and extortion of money for Earle's pet projects 
    from corporations in exchange for dismissing indictments 
    he brought against them. Ronnie Earle's previous misuse 
    of his office has resulted in failed prosecutions and we 
    trust his partisan grandstanding will strike out again, 
    as it should.

    Ronnie Earle's 1994 indictment against Senator Kay Bailey 
    Hutchison was quickly dismissed and his charges in the 
    1980s against former Attorney General Jim Mattox-another 
    political foe of Earle-fell apart at trial.

    We regret the people of Texas will once again have their 
    taxpayer dollars wasted on Ronnie Earle's pursuit of 
    headlines and political paybacks. Ronnie Earle began this 
    investigation in 2002, after the Democrat Party lost the 
    Texas state legislature to Republicans. For three years 
    and through numerous grand juries, Ronnie Earle has tried 
    to manufacture charges against Republicans involved in 
    winning those elections using arcane statutes never 
    before utilized in a case in the state. This indictment 
    is nothing more than prosecutorial retribution by a 
    partisan Democrat.