Statement from the Office of the Majority Leader
Wed Sep 28 2005 13:03:09 ET


"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."