[F]ormer Department of Justice official Barbara Comstock 
    noted yesterday, “Had corporations sent money directly to 
    the RNC or RNSEC, the transaction would be legal. How 
    could anyone conspire to do indirectly what could legally 
    have been done directly?” Earle considers these 
    transactions illegal because he thinks they should be, 
    and he’s convinced a grand jury to play along with him. 

    Even if the underlying transactions were illegal, Earle 
    would have to convince a jury that DeLay conspired with 
    others to send the checks. DeLay told Brit Hume on Fox 
    News Wednesday night that he was not aware of the 
    transactions until after they had already taken place. If 
    Earle has any evidence proving otherwise, he left it out 
    of the indictment.

    It should come as no surprise that the mastermind of such 
    a farcical case also conducted a farcical investigation, 
    which dragged on for 34 months and six grand juries. 
    Accused of frequently leaking sealed proceedings, Earle 
    also discussed the case as the featured speaker at a 
    Democratic-party fundraiser last May. He told the 
    crowd, “This case is not just about Tom DeLay. If it 
    isn't this Tom DeLay, it'll be another one, just like one 
    bully replaces the one before. This is a structural 
    problem involving the combination of money and power. 
    Money brings power and power corrupts.”

    Earle should know. He has already abused his power in 
    this case to extort money from corporations for his own 
    pet projects in exchange for dismissing indictments he 
    brought against them, as Byron York has reported.