CREW LAUDS DELAY INDICTMENT – URGES CONGRESS TO INVESTIGATE DELAY COHORTS

28 Sep 2005 // Washington, DC – With today’s indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) on conspiracy charges and the investigation into Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist ((R-TN) for possible insider trading, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) urges the immediate investigation into the widespread and ever-growing corruption on Capitol Hill.

The charges against Rep. DeLay stem from the illegal use of corporate money under the campaign laws of Texas, to secure Republican majority control of the Texas Legislature in the 2002 election in order to gerrymander Texas Congressional districts. Over a year ago, CREW drafted a complaint, filed by former Congressman Chris Bell (D-TX) asking that the House ethics committee investigate the same issue. Although the complaint ultimately resulted in the admonishment of Rep. DeLay on two counts in the complaint, the committee refused to act on the count regarding the illegal use of corporate money. Both CREW and former Rep. Bell are now vindicated by the Texas grand jury’s indictment.

CREW has continually worked to raise awareness and spearhead investigations into Mr. DeLay and his cohorts’ blatant violations of both the House ethics rules and federal law. “Despite Rep. DeLay’s admonishment by the House ethics committee, CREW’s calls to investigate Mr. DeLay’s other violations, as well as those of some of his colleagues which have been ignored and scoffed at on both sides of the aisle,” Melanie Sloan said today. “Corruption continues to be ignored on Capitol Hill. Thankfully, however, the citizens of the Texas grand jury do care about ethics.”

The downfall of Rep. DeLay does not solve Congress’s ethics problems. Earlier this week, CREW released a report entitled Beyond DeLay: The 13 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (www.beyonddelay.org), documenting the unethical and possibly illegal activities of Members with the most serious ethics violations. CREW has prepared ethics complaints against two of those members included in the report, one against Rep. Bob Ney, an ally of Rep. DeLay’s, and Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who is under a Department of Justice and FBI investigation.

Unfortunately, no member of Congress has been willing to file either complaint and outsiders are prohibited from doing so.

The indictment of the House Majority Leader comes at a time when the Senate Majority Leader is also under criminal investigation, a sad, but historic first. This demonstrates the level of corruption at the highest levels of Congress.

“The indictment of Rep. DeLay shows that the legal system works even if Congress doesn’t.”