DeLay court appearance set for late October

updated 7:44 a.m. ET Sept. 30, 2005

WASHINGTON - Rep. Tom DeLay was ordered to appear in a Texas courtroom on Oct. 21 to face the conspiracy charge that forced him to step down as House majority leader.

As he battles the charge, meanwhile, the Texas lawmaker will serve as a “very powerful adviser” to the Republican leadership, a GOP spokesman said Thursday.

“His experience and insight for over a decade of the Republican majority is invaluable to our leadership and to our members and will be used wisely,” said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill.

DeLay was charged this week with conspiring with two political associates to use corporate donations to support Texas legislative candidates.

DeLay provides new details
On Thursday, he provided new details about his behind-the scenes effort to try to convince prosecutors he shouldn’t be indicted.

DeLay contended that after he recently met voluntarily with prosecutors, he was led to believe “it was pretty much over” and he would be spared indictment in a state campaign finance investigation.

Two weeks ago, he said, the landscape suddenly changed because Travis County (Texas) District Attorney Ronnie Earle buckled under pressure from fellow Democrats and the media, and tried to blame the switch on a “runaway” grand jury.

Earle has consistently denied the investigation of DeLay and his associates was political and has pointed out he has prosecuted more Democrats than Republicans.

The Austin, Texas, grand jury charged that the conspirators carried out the scheme by having the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee send corporate money to the Republican National Committee in Washington. The RNC then sent back a like amount — $190,000 — to distribute to Texas candidates.

Criminal conspiracy is a Texas felony punishable by six months to two years in a state jail and a fine of up to $10,000. The potential two-year sentence forced DeLay to step down as majority leader under House Republican rules.

DeLay was summoned by a judge to appear in court in Austin on Oct. 21, but his lawyers are working to spare him the humiliation of being handcuffed, photographed and fingerprinted.

'It was pretty much over,' DeLay says
DeLay went on the offensive Thursday in several broadcast interviews. The lawmaker said he thought he convinced prosecutors in a voluntary interview that he had little to do with operations of fundraising committee, known as TRMPAC.

“I got the impression from his (Earle’s) chief prosecutor that they knew I had nothing to do with the day-to-day operation, that there was no conspiracy as far as I’m concerned,” he said.

“In the following days after that, it was pretty much over until two weeks ago and Ronnie Earle made the statement that I was never part of this investigation publicly,” he said.

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