Spreading GOP Congressional Scandals and Corruption

Directory of the Spreading GOP Scandals and Corruption

in the Administration and Congress

See also articles and documents in the
following Directories:

Law and Legal Issues

Battle for the Judiciary

Directory of the CIA Leak

Abu Ghraib Articles

Civil Rights Under Attack

Government Abuse Directory

NEW: Phony Fraud Charges

In its fumbling attempts to explain the purge
of United States attorneys, the Bush administration
has argued that the fired prosecutors were not
aggressive enough about addressing voter fraud.

G.O.P. Seen to Be in Peril
of Losing House

By ROBIN TONER and KATE ZERNIKE

WASHINGTON, Sept. 3 — After a year of political
turmoil, Republicans enter the fall campaign with
their control of the House in serious jeopardy, the
possibility of major losses in the Senate, and a national
mood so unsettled that districts once considered safely
Republican are now competitive, analysts and strategists
in both parties say. Sixty-five days before the election,
the signs of Republican vulnerability are widespread.

Bush, a Crisis Almost
Without Equal
By Greg Mitchell
Editor & Publisher

19 April 2006

Republicans and Democrats alike are
starting to face the prospect of what it
means to have George W. Bush as their
commander in chief for another 33 months -
in a time of war, terrorism, and nuclear intrigue.

Senate Hearings on Bush, Now

By Carl Bernstein

04/18/06 Worse than Watergate? High crimes
and misdemeanors justifying the impeachment
of George W. Bush, as increasing numbers of
Democrats in Washington hope, and, sotto voce,
increasing numbers of Republicans—including
some of the president's top lieutenants—now fear?
Leaders of both parties are acutely aware of the
vehemence of anti-Bush sentiment in the country,
expressed especially in the increasing number
of Americans—nearing fifty percent in some polls—
who say they would favor impeachment if the
president were proved to have deliberately lied to
justify going to war in Iraq.

A Small-Time Crime With Hints
of Big-Time Connections Lights Up the Net

By ADAM COHEN

The Internet is a great breeding ground for political
conspiracies, and there is a new one lighting up
computer monitors across the country. Bloggers
are fascinated by what they see as eerie parallels
between Watergate and a phone-jamming scandal
in New Hampshire. It has low-level Republican
operatives involved in dirty campaign tricks. It has
checks from donors with murky backgrounds. It
has telephone calls to the White House. What is
unclear is whether it is the work of a few rogue
actors, or something larger.

Records Show People in
Election Phone Jamming Called
White House

By Larry Margasak, Associated Press Writer

April 10, 2006

WASHINGTON --Key figures in a phone-
jamming scheme designed to keep New
Hampshire Democrats from voting in 2002
had regular contact with the White House and
Republican Party as the plan was unfolding,
phone records introduced in criminal court show.

Abramoff, Scanlon,
and the New Hampshire Phone
Jamming
By Paul Kiel - April 11, 2006, 6:42 PM

Was Jack Abramoff involved somehow
in the New Hampshire phone jamming? New
details discovered by TPMmuckraker.com
strengthen the case.

Tom Delay:
A Partisan Leaves; Will an Era Follow?
By ROBIN TONER
WASHINGTON, April 4 — Representative Tom DeLay
was the last man standing among the top three
Republicans who took control of the House after the
1994 Republican landslide, and he leaves, in many
ways, the most complex and contentious legacy from
their conservative reign on Capitol Hill.

Tom DeLay: He Says He's
Leaving, But Don't Believe Him
Plus a Compendium of Reactions
on Delay's Departure

Tom DeLay is the closest thing we've seen in
nearly sixty-five years of true, honest-to-Dixie-low-
down-lying, bribing, and bullying everyone in sight
and collecting favors from big corporations and from
powerful lobbyists! I mean, his imagination is worth
payin' attention to: the man actually said: "I am
the Government!"

How the GOP Messes
up the House
By Erica Rosenberg

The fate of the Endangered Species Act
under Pombo's leadership typifies House
Republicans' demolition approach to the
nation's legislative process. Measures affecting
long-standing energy policy, mining law and
oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
were similarly railroaded through committee
with little opportunity for debate, amendment
or media coverage. Often, the public record
on what occurred during these bills' travels
through committee was thin, at best.

Bush Ex-Aide Arrested for Fraud
By IAN URBINA and DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK
WASHINGTON, March 13 — Claude A. Allen often said his
religious upbringing took him from a two-room apartment
in a poor neighborhood of Washington to a post at the
White House.Last week, that life and discipline appeared
to have frayed when Mr. Allen, the president's former
domestic policy adviser, was arrested in suburban Maryland
and charged with stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise
from Target and other stores in a scheme to fake returns.

Judge Calls Halt to Penalty
Phase of Terror Trial
By NEIL A. LEWIS
ALEXANDRIA, Va., March 13 — An angry federal
judge delayed the sentencing trial of Zacarias
Moussaoui on Monday and said she was considering
ending the prosecution's bid to have him executed
after the disclosure that a government lawyer had
improperly coached some witnesses.

Terrorism Prosecutorial
Incompetence
The Bush administration has jeopardized the sentencing
of Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called "20th hijacker," by
tampering with witnesses. The federal judge presiding
over the case, Leonie M. Brinkema, said yesterday,
"[I]n all my years on the bench, I've never seen a more
egregious violation of the rule about witnesses." Carla J.
Martin, a Transportation Security Administration lawyer,
"violated a court order by e-mailing trial transcripts to
seven witnesses -- all current and former federal aviation
employees -- and coaching them on their upcoming
testimony."

Contractor Bilked U.S.
of Millions
Custer Battles Is Told It Should Pay
More Than $10 Million in Damages
By Charles R. Babcock
Friday, March 10, 2006
Two Army veterans and their company
cheated the U.S. government on a contract
to furnish Iraq with a new currency in 2003
and should pay more than $10 million in
assorted damages, a federal jury in
Alexandria ruled yesterday.

No. 3 Official at CIA Is Subject of
Investigation Related to Bribery Probe
By BRIAN ROSS, RICHARD ESPOSITO
and RHONDA SCHWARTZ
The CIA Inspector General has opened an
investigation into the spy agency's executive
director, Kyle "Dusty" Foggo, and his
connections to two defense contractors
accused of bribing a member of Congress
and Pentagon officials.

Video Shows Bush Was
Warned Before Katrina
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP)—In dramatic and
sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster
officials warned President Bush and his homeland
security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that
the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in
New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers,
according to confidential video footage.

Video Shows Bush Being
Warned on Katrina
Officials Detailed a Dire Threat to New Orleans
By Spencer S. Hsu and Linton Weeks
A newly leaked video recording of high-level
government deliberations the day before Hurricane
Katrina hit shows disaster officials emphatically
warning President Bush that the storm posed a
catastrophic threat to New Orleans and the Gulf
Coast, and a grim-faced Bush personally assuring
state leaders that his administration was
"fully prepared" to help.

Restoring the Public Trust

By Bill Moyers
TomPaine.com

Friday 24 February 2006
Two years ago, in a report entitled Democracy
in an Age of Rising Inequality, the American Political
Science Association concluded that progress toward
realizing American ideals of democracy "may have
stalled, and even, in some areas, reversed." Privileged
Americans "roar with a clarity and consistency that public
officials readily hear and routinely follow" while citizens
"with lower or moderate incomes are speaking with
a whisper." The following year, on the eve of President
George W. Bush's second inauguration, the editors of
The Economist, reporting on inequality in America,
concluded that the United States "risks calcifying into
a European-style, class-based society."

I.R.S. Finds Sharp Increase
in Illegal Political Activity
By STEPHANIE STROM
The I.R.S. said yesterday that it saw a sharp
increase in prohibited political activity by charities
and churches in the last election cycle, a trend
that it aims to reverse as the country heads into
the midterm elections. The tax agency found
problems at three-quarters of the 82 organizations
it examined after having received complaints about
their political activities, according to a report the
Internal Revenue Service released. The infractions
included distributing materials that encouraged
people to vote for particular candidates and giving
cash to campaigns.

Click here to read the full IRS Report

Libby's Lawyers Say Prosecutor
Acted Unconstitutionally
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 — Lawyers for Vice
President Dick Cheney's former top aide asked a
federal judge on Thursday to dismiss his indictment,
saying the special prosecutor in the C.I.A. leak
case lacked the authority to bring the charges.
Lawyers for the former aide, I. Lewis Libby Jr.,
said his indictment violated the Constitution
because the special counsel, Patrick J. Fitzgerald,
was not appointed by the president with the consent
of the Senate. They added that the appointment
violated federal law because the attorney general
did not supervise the investigation. Only Congress,
the lawyers said, can approve such an arrangement.

GAO Report Reveals Millions
in Fraudulent Payouts for Katrina
PDF FILE

FEMA Flagged for Katrina ‘Fraud
and Abuse’
Audit finds agency never verified identity of aid
recipients, wasted millions
By Lisa Myers & the NBC Investigative Unit
Updated: 7:37 p.m. ET Feb. 10, 2006

WASHINGTON - The first investigation of how the
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) did
in paying benefits to Hurricane Katrina victims suggests
massive fraud and the waste of millions of dollars of millions
of taxpayer money.

How Far will Abramoff
Scandal Reach?
A number of lawmakers are under
investigation for their connections
with Jack Abramoff.
By Gail Russell Chaddock |
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON - What worries Washington
most about the corruption scandal with
ex-superlobbyist Jack Abramoff at the
epicenter is how far it will reach.

Abramoff Pleads Guilty to 3 Counts
Lobbyist to Testify About Lawmakers In
Corruption Probe

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Wednesday, January 4, 2006

Jack Abramoff, the once-powerful lobbyist
at the center of a wide-ranging public corruption
investigation, pleaded guilty yesterday to fraud,
tax evasion and conspiracy to bribe public officials
in a deal that requires him to provide evidence
about members of Congress.

Tremors Across Washington as
Lobbyist Will Aid Inquiry
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 - As a high-flying
Republican lobbyist, Jack Abramoff has
long been known as a mover and shaker
in Washington. But when he cut a deal
with federal prosecutors on Tuesday, he
shook up this town as never before. Not
long ago, Mr. Abramoff was perhaps
Washington's most aggressive - and, at
$750 an hour, most highly compensated
- deal maker, a flamboyant man who
moved fluidly through the nexus of money
and power. Now his decision to cooperate
in a broadening corruption and bribery
investigation has thrust him into the role of
a corporate insider turning against the
company that claimed just to be doing
business as usual.

To Russia, Love Tom DeLay
Russ Baker
January 04, 2006
Once in a very long time, a scandal comes
along that seems to capture the essence of
our times. I’d say that scandal appeared on
Saturday, when most of us were too busy
getting out the honkers and the booze to notice.
Here’s the crux: Was the Republican leader
Tom DeLay working on behalf of Russians
against the American public interest—and
being compensated for it?

The DeLay-Abramoff Money Trail
Nonprofit Group Linked to Lawmaker Was
Funded Mostly by Clients of Lobbyist

The U.S. Family Network, a public advocacy group
that operated in the 1990s with close ties to Rep. Tom
DeLay and claimed to be a nationwide grass-roots
organization, was funded almost entirely by corporations
linked to embattled lobbyist Jack Abramoff, according
to tax records and former associates of the group.

Report: Group Linked to DeLay Funded
by Abramoff Clients

An organization with close ties to Rep. Tom DeLay
was funded largely by corporations associated with
former lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the Washington Post
reported on Saturday, citing tax records and quoting
former associates of the group.

Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe
of Lobbyist
Ney and DeLay Among the Members of
Congress Said to Be a Focus of Abramoff
Investigation
By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 26, 2005
The Justice Department's wide-ranging investigation
of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a
highly active phase as prosecutors are beginning to
move on evidence pointing to possible corruption in
Congress and executive branch agencies, lawyers
involved in the case said. Prosecutors have already
told one lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio),
and his former chief of staff that they are preparing a
possible bribery case against them, according to two
sources knowledgeable about the matter who spoke
on the condition of anonymity.

The Stealth Liability Provision
Republicans are using the last days of this
Congressional session to try to grant extraordinary
liability protection to the drug companies that will
make the vaccines and other medicines to combat
a possible influenza pandemic. But they have been
slow to mount a comparable effort to help the people
who may be harmed by adverse side effects.

Can Congress Police Its Ethics?
Criminal probes are exposing corrupt
practices in Congress, prompting calls
for reform of ethics standards.
By Gail Russell Chaddock |
Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

WASHINGTON - With a flurry of corruption indictments
and related plea agreements threatening to become
a storm, Congress is feeling the heat on ethics reform.

DeLay Denounces Report on Payments
to His Family
By CARL HULSE and PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, April 6 - Representative Tom DeLay,
the House majority leader, on Wednesday angrily
dismissed newspaper accounts that focused on
payments to his wife and daughter as well as on
additional trips taken by him that have come
under scrutiny.

Political Groups Paid Two Relatives
of House Leader
By PHILIP SHENON
WASHINGTON, April 5 - The wife and daughter of
Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, have been
paid more than $500,000 since 2001 by Mr. DeLay's
political action and campaign committees, according
to a detailed review of disclosure statements filed with
the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-
raising records in Mr. DeLay's home state, Texas.

The Senate in Blinders

Mr. Bolton was an awful choice for the job before the
Senate went away for vacation. He will be an awful
choice when the Senate returns. It's unfortunate
that this incorrigibly secretive White House is once
again stonewalling legitimate requests for documents.
But the senators are not exactly working with a shortage
of information. They can listen to recordings in which
Mr. Bolton expresses contempt for the U. N.

Congress Assaults the Courts, Again
The House of Representatives took a little- noticed
but dangerous swipe at the power of the courts this
week. It passed an amendment to a budget bill that
would bar money from being spent to enforce a federal
court ruling regarding the Ten Commandments. The
vote threatens the judiciary's long-acknowledged
position as the final arbiter of the Constitution. It is
important that this amendment be removed before
the bill becomes law.

Frist, His Authority Questioned, Says
He'll Prevail in the Long Run
By CARL HULSE
WASHINGTON, June 4 - With lawmakers returning
from the Memorial Day recess, the Senate majority
leader, Bill Frist, faces a crucial test of whether he
can re-establish his authority after a rapid sequence
of events that many say diminished his standing and
exposed a lack of experience in Congressional intrigue.

Court Gutting in Congress
Congress is quietly considering whether to destroy
one of the pillars of constitutional law: the habeas
corpus power of the federal courts to determine
whether an indigent defendant has been unjustly
sentenced to death in state courts.

On the 'Nuclear' Brink
The judicial nominations debate reached a new low
this week when a Republican senator compared his
Democratic colleagues to Hitler. This rampage by the
Republican majority, driven by a zeal to eliminate the
Democrats' voice in the appointment of judges, poses
a real danger of permanently damaging the system of
checks and balances at the heart of American democracy.

Disrespecting Women Soldiers
Showing bad timing as well as bad judgment, House
Republicans chose the days before this weekend's
patriotic holiday to deny needed health services to
women serving the nation in the military.

Dominionist Bill Limits the Supreme
Court's Jurisdiction

The Constitution Restoration Act
of 2004 and Now 2005

by Katherine Yurica

You read it here first. The Yurica Report published
articles revealing the intentions of Dominionists to
revamp the American Federal Court system. The first
major attempt has been placed before both houses
of Congress in two nearly identical bills. Drafted by
Herb Titus, the first Dean of Pat Robertson's School
of Public Policy and a known Dominionist, our
question is: What is actually intended by the
Constitution Restoration Act of 2004? If the bill
passes, the Supreme Court will be placed under the
Dominionists' thumb. (Updated February 28, 2004 with
an editor's note and August 8, 2004.)

DeLay Says Federal Judiciary Has
'Run Amok,'
Representative Tom DeLay, the House majority
leader, escalated his talk of a battle between the
legislative and judicial branches of government on
Thursday, saying federal courts had "run amok,"
in large part because of the failure of Congress
to confront them.

In Telecast, Frist Defends His Effort
to Stop Filibusters
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 24 - In a Sunday telecast
organized by Christian conservative groups to
denounce the Democrats as "against people of
faith" for blocking judicial nominees, Senator Bill
Frist of Tennessee stepped up his threats to change
Senate rules to circumvent those blockades while
simultaneously calling for "more civility in political life."

Democrats Make the Case Congressional
Repubicans Are Drunk With Power
By ROBIN TONER and CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON, April 10 - Newt Gingrich, the
conservative firebrand who won control of Congress a
decade ago by campaigning against an entrenched,
arrogant and all-powerful Democratic majority, is once
again an inspirational figure on Capitol Hill. This time,
his message is being carried by the Democrats.The
party's leaders are increasingly making the case that
in 2005, it is Congressional Republicans who are drunk
with power, overreaching on issues like Social Security
and judicial nominations, ethically challenged, and
profoundly out of touch with their constituents.

Majority Leader Asks House Panel to
Review Judges

Deflecting all questions about his ethical conduct
and political future, Representative Tom DeLay,
the House majority leader, on Wednesday stepped
up his crusade against judges, announcing that he
had instructed the Judiciary Committee to investigate
federal court decisions in the Terri Schiavo case and
to recommend possible legislation.

Frist Accused of Exploiting Religion
Issue
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK and CARL HULSE

Democratic senators accused Senator Bill Frist,
the Republican majority leader, of exploiting
religion for partisan ends by taking part in a
telecast portraying them as "against people
of faith" for blocking President Bush's judicial
nominations.

Tom DeLay: "It Is More Than Just Terri
Schiavo"
Transcript: The embattled House Majority Leader finds
parallels between Terri Schiavo's case and his own
By KAREN TUMULTY

Last Friday, as the House and Senate were working
out their differences over legislation to stop the removal
of Terri Schiavo's feeding tube, embattled House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay discussed the issue at
a gathering of the Family Research Council at the
Willard Hotel in Washington. In the speech, he drew
parallels between Schiavo's situation and his own as
he faces a barrage of ethics allegations, and he implicitly
asked the conservatives to come to his defense as they
have Schiavo's. A recording of the speech was supplied
to TIME by Americans United for Separation of Church
and State, an advocacy group:

DeLay's Own Tragic Crossroads

Family of the lawmaker involved in the
Schiavo case decided in '88 to let his
comatose father die.
March 27, 2005

More than 16 years ago, far from the political
passions that have defined the Schiavo controversy,
the DeLay family endured its own wrenching end-
of-life crisis. The man in a coma, kept alive by
intravenous lines and oxygen equipment, was
DeLay's father, Charles Ray DeLay.

House GOP Reverses Course on
Ethics Rules
Tuesday January 4, 2005 1:31 AM
By LARRY MARGASAK

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - House Republicans suddenly
reversed course Monday, deciding to retain a tough
standard for lawmaker discipline and reinstate a rule
that would force Majority Leader Tom DeLay to step
aside if indicted by a Texas grand jury.

Democrats Block Ethics Panel Over
Rewritten Rules

By Mary Curtius / Los Angeles Times

WASHINGTON — Just as new controversy has
erupted over trips taken by congressional Democrats
and Republicans — including House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) — the workings of
the chamber's ethics committee have been brought
to a halt. Democrats are refusing to accept new
rules for the panel written by House Republicans,
saying the edicts would gut the committee's ability
to conduct investigations. The Democrats say they
will block the committee from functioning until the
rules are rescinded.

The Judges Made Them Do It

It was appalling when the House majority leader
threatened political retribution against judges who
did not toe his extremist political line. But when a
second important Republican stands up and excuses
murderous violence against judges as an understandable
reaction to their decisions, then it is time to get
really scared.

Congressman Conyers rips Senator Cornyn for
justifying violence against judges

During the protracted coverage and debate of the Schiavo
matter, I was struck by the disrespectful and reckless
language being used against judges. One by one, my
Republican colleagues took the House floor to attack
judges as "unconscionable," lacking "human compassion,"
needing to be held in "contempt," and having "answering
to do." I remember thinking that such dehumanizing
rhetoric is especially dangerous in these times towards
anyone, let alone judges. Outside the halls of Congress,
words flew even more recklessly and the House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay called the removal of Schiavo's feeding
tube an "act of medical terrorism." The Reverend Pat
Robertson called it "judicial murder." I remember thinking
about Judge Rowland Barnes of Georgia, who less than
a month ago, was shot to death by an angry litigant in
his courtroom, along with two other court employees.
I remember thinking that irresponsible words can lead
to tragic results.

Bill Frist's Religious War

Right-wing Christian groups and the Republican
politicians they bankroll have done much since
the last election to impose their particular religious
views on all Americans. But nothing comes close
to the shameful declaration of religious war by Bill
Frist, the Senate majority leader, over the selection
of judges for federal courts. Senator Frist is to appear
on a telecast sponsored by the Family Research
Council, which styles itself a religious organization
but is really just another Washington lobbying
concern. The message is that the Democrats who
oppose a tiny handful of President Bush's judicial
nominations are conducting an assault "against
people of faith." By that, Senator Frist and his allies
do not mean people of all faiths, only those
of their faith.

In Courts, Threats Become Alarming
Fact of Life
By DEBORAH SONTAG

Last March, a federal prosecutor in Utah overseeing
a racketeering case against a dozen members of the
Soldiers of Aryan Culture received a chilling threat.
"You stupid bitch!" the letter to the assistant United
States attorney, who is an African-American woman,
began. "It is because of you that my brothers are in jail."
The letter went on to mention the prosecutor's home
address, concluding, "We will get you." It was signed,
"Till the casket drops."

Attacking a Free Judiciary

The low point in the politicking over Terri Schiavo
came last week when the House majority leader,
Tom DeLay, threatened the judges who ruled in her
case. Saying they had "thumbed their nose at
Congress and the president," Mr. DeLay announced
that "the time will come for the men responsible for
this to answer for their behavior, but not today." Coming
so close to the fatal shooting of one judge in his
courtroom and the killing of two family members of
another, those words were at best an appalling example
of irresponsibility in pursuit of political gain. But they
were not an angry, off-the-cuff reaction. Mr. DeLay's
ominous statements were a calculated part of a
growing assault on the judiciary.

Frist Set to Use Religious Stage on
Judicial Issue
By DAVID D. KIRKPATRICK

WASHINGTON, April 14 - As the Senate heads
toward a showdown over the rules governing
judicial confirmations, Senator Bill Frist, the
majority leader, has agreed to join a handful of
prominent Christian conservatives in a telecast
portraying Democrats as "against people of faith"
for blocking President Bush's nominees.

NEW: Lawmakers Under Scrutiny in Probe
of Lobbyist
Ney and DeLay Among the Members of Congress
Said to Be a Focus of Abramoff Investigation

By Susan Schmidt and James V. Grimaldi
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, November 26, 2005; A01

The Justice Department's wide-ranging investigation
of former lobbyist Jack Abramoff has entered a highly
active phase as prosecutors are beginning to move
on evidence pointing to possible corruption in Congress
and executive branch agencies, lawyers involved in
the case said. Prosecutors have already told one
lawmaker, Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio), and his former
chief of staff that they are preparing a possible bribery
case against them, according to two sources
knowledgeable about the matter who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.

Inquiry Focuses on Group DeLay
Created

By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.

AUSTIN, Tex. — A political action committee created
by Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, enjoyed
tremendous success here in 2002: all but 3 of 21
Republican candidates the committee backed for
state representative won their races, helping the
party take control of the Texas House. Last year,
the Republicans used that clout to carve Texas into
new Congressional districts under a plan that political
analysts say will bring them at least five new seats in
Congressional elections this year.

House Republicans Move to Protect
Their Leader

November 17, 2004
By CARL HULSE and DAVID E. ROSENBAUM

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16 - Fresh from election gains,
House Republicans moved Tuesday to consider a
change in party rules that would prevent their majority
leader, Tom DeLay, from having to step down from his
leadership position should he be indicted in an
investigation in Texas.

Political Fundraising in Texas Is
Target of Probe

Officials look at whether money linked to House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay improperly financed
Republican campaigns.
By Scott Gold
Times Staff Writer
January 3, 2004

AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities are conducting a criminal
investigation into whether corporate money, including
hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to U.S. House
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, improperly financed the
Republican Party's takeover of the Texas Capitol.

The probe is focused on several political and fundraising
organizations run by Republican activists, investigators said.
One of the organizations, the political action committee
Texans for a Republican Majority, has direct ties to DeLay,
a Texas Republican and one of the most powerful politicians
in Washington.

Evangelicals Want to Strip Courts' Funds
Taped at a private conference, the leaders outline
ways to punish jurists they oppose.
By Peter Wallsten
Times Staff Writer April 22, 2005
WASHINGTON — Evangelical Christian leaders, who
have been working closely with senior Republican
lawmakers to place conservative judges in the federal
courts, have also been exploring ways to punish sitting
jurists and even entire courts viewed as hostile to
their cause.

Nation’s most renowned conservative
editorial page excoriates Tom DeLay

By now you have surely read about House Majority
Leader Tom DeLay’s ethics troubles. Probably, too,
you aren’t entirely clear as to what those troubles
are–something to do with questionable junkets, Indian
casino money, funny business on the House Ethics
Committee, stuff down in Texas. In Beltway-speak,
what this means is that Mr. DeLay has an “odor":
nothing too incriminating, nothing actually criminal, just
an unsavory whiff that could have GOP loyalists reaching
for the political Glade if it gets any worse.

Galloway v the US Senate:
transcript of statement

"Have a look at the real scandal breaking in the
newspapers today, revealed in the earlier testimony
in this committee. That the biggest sanctions busters
were not me or Russian politicians or French politicians.
The real sanctions busters were your own companies
with the connivance of your own Government."

For Whom the Bell Tolls
Dominionists New Version of Marriage
Amendment Fails Again

By Katherine Yurica

The Federal Marriage Amendment Bill was
amended on March 22, 2004. The text of the
revised version is just as murky as the original.
Read about the problems that still exist.
The Yurica Report's analysis is here.

If you have not read For Whom the Bell Tolls,
by Katherine Yurica read the complete revised
version now.

House Ethics Committee Criticizes DeLay

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, admonished
by the House ethics committee for acting improperly
by trying to persuade a Michigan Republican to change
his vote on a Medicare prescription drug bill, could face
another investigation by the panel.

The committee on Thursday approved an investigative
report that serves as ``a public admonishment'' against
DeLay, R-Texas, Rep. Candice Miller, R-Mich., and the
lawmaker they were trying to influence, Rep. Nick Smith.

Complaint Against DeLay Ruptures 7-Year
Truce in House
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

WASHINGTON, June 15 - A seven-year-old unofficial
truce discouraging House members from filing ethics
complaints against one another disintegrated Tuesday
when a freshman Democrat accused one of the most
powerful members of Congress, the House majority leader,
Tom DeLay, of "bribery, extortion, fraud, money laundering
and the abuse of power."

America Stands on the Edge
of A Grave Constitutional Crisis
Linked to Pat Robertson

How the GOP congressional faction is
executing a plan to intimidate and control
the U.S. Federal Courts

By Katherine Yurica

The factious Republican leaders have adopted
Pat Robertson's devious ideas on how to overthrow
the balance of powers between the three branches
of government and subdue the independence of the
Federal Courts.

Rogue Republican Dons in Congress
Tear Up the Constitution, Exclude Democrats
and Accept a New Title: "The Godfathers"
By Katherine Yurica

Why the New Medicare Law, the Energy Bill
And the Omnibus Appropriations Bill
May All Be Unconstitutional

PRESS STATEMENT
House Ethics Committee

INVESTIGATION OF CERTAIN ALLEGATIONS RELATED
TO VOTING ON THE MEDICARE PRESCRIPTION DRUG,
IMPROVEMENT, AND MODERNIZATION ACT OF 2003

On March 17, 2004, the Committee adopted a resolution
which established an Investigative Subcommittee to investigate
alleged communications received by Representative Nick Smith
linking support for the congressional candidacy of his son with
Representative Smith’s vote on the Medicare Prescription Drug,
Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003.

Republican Forced Exclusion of
Democrats from legislative participation
violates House and Senate tradition and places
an ominous threat over the democratic process
as it disenfranchises fifty percent of Americans
from representative government. Read the facts
from the congressional editor of the Washington
Post.

Did Some Go Too Far to
Change A No to a Yes on Medicare?
R. Jeffrey Smith, Washington Post staff
reporter exposes the threats and bribes
used against House Representatives.
This may turn out to be the biggest
scandal in our history.

Who Tried to Bribe Rep. Smith?
Winning-at-any-cost as a policy may cost Republicans
too much. Think jail terms for bribery and extortion
in the battle to get the Medicare Bill Passed.

Conservative Republicans Rebelled
A critical review of the tactics Repugs resorted to
in order to get the Medicare Bill passed in the House.
This time the "enemy" targeted was other Republicans.
Get an insiders picture of what happened during the
long hours of "hazing," pressure and "ugly stuff."

Watchdog groups filed complaint
against Tom DeLay, the House Majority Leader,
asking the IRS to deny his tax exemption.

Cheating Repugnicans who redrew
Colorado's congressional districts were slapped down.
The lines will return to pre-manipulative status.

Political foes use vote on Medicare as
weapon. Beware, it may backfire. From the
Washington Times.

RICO!

Why the Bush Administration Should Be Prosecuted
as a Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organization

By Katherine Yurica

In recent months many commentators have advised
their audiences that impeachment proceedings against
George W. Bush will never happen. What then can be
done? In this article, Katherine Yurica proposes something
that has never been done in the history of the United States,
the filing of civil and/or criminal RICO lawsuits against the
president and his administration. This is a must read
article with national implications.

Exhibit List of the House Ethics
Committee Report

House Ethics Committee Press
Release

Contempt for Congress
Thursday, March 18, 2004;

TENSION BETWEEN THE executive and legislative
branches is inevitable, but the Bush administration
has tended to treat Congress with an arrogance
bordering on contempt. The latest illustration involves
the report that the Medicare chief actuary was threatened
with firing if he gave lawmakers his analysis of the likely
costs of the new prescription drug legislation. The actuary,
Richard S. Foster, estimated that the new entitlement
would cost far more than predicted by the Congressional
Budget Office: $534 billion over the next decade rather
than the CBO's $395 billion.

Now It's a Scandal
New evidence that a House GOP leader
offered a bribe.
By Timothy Noah
Posted Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2003, at 2:56 PM PT

Acting Deputy Attorney General James Comey told reporters
yesterday that he had not seen the request for the
investigation, but added whenever the department gets
such a request, "we read it carefully and then make an
evaluation. We will review the letter."

Eyewitness Accounts of Actions by Republican-
Funded Organization;
Group Accused of Voter Registration Fraud in
Three Swing States
Librarians in Oregon and Pennsylvania are providing eyewitness
accounts of voter registration activities of Sproul and Associates,
a group which has received $488,000 from the Republican
National Committee. Employees of Sproul and Associates in
Nevada have said that they witnessed supervisors tearing up
completed registration forms from Democrats. The Associated
Press has reported that "a [Nevada] state judge refused to
reopen registration for Clark County residents whose voter
applications might have been destroyed by [the] Republican-
funded group. ..

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