WASHINGTON - September 29 - With yesterday’s indictment of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and other key players in a Texas redistricting scheme, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) urges state and federal elected representatives who financially benefited from potentially illegal corporate dollars to return that money immediately.
The indictment alleges that associates of former Majority Leader Tom DeLay laundered contributions to Texans for a Republican Majority (TRMPAC) through the Republican National State Election Committee (RNSEC). That money was then given to candidates who Rep. DeLay and TRMPAC supported for the Texas House of Representatives, thus violating Texas law which bans corporate contributions to state candidates. The ultimate goal was to secure Republican majority control of the Texas Legislature in the 2002 election in order to gerrymander Texas Congressional districts.

Five Texas state representatives received the TRMPAC money that was funneled through RNSEC and the five new Texas congressmen who were elected as a result of the gerrymandering accepted contributions from Rep. DeLay’s political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority (ARMPAC).

“CREW believes that it is incumbent upon the five Texas state representatives to immediately return the campaign contributions they received from the RSNEC,” stated Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. Sloan continued, “The indictments of Tom DeLay, Jim Ellis and John Colyandro make evident that the RSNEC contributions were illegally raised, laundered and distributed.” “Texans have a right to expect that their elected officials will abide by campaign finance laws.”

Given that five Texas congressmen owe their seats to the gerrymandering that resulted from the election of the state representatives, they should return all the money they received from Tom DeLay through ARMPAC. “Elected officials must abide by not only the letter of the campaign finance laws but by the spirit as well,” said Sloan.

The five Texas state candidates, who accepted TRMPAC contributions, include: state Reps. Todd Baxter, Dwayne Bohac, Glenda Dawson, Dan Flynn, and Jack Stick.

The five newly-elected US Congressmen from Texas who won their seats through gerrymandered districts supported by TRMPAC funds, should also return their contributions from ARMPAC. ARMPAC was run by James W. Ellis, who has been indicted this month as well. Those five Texas Congressmen are: Reps. Ted Poe, Louis B. Gohmert, Jr., Michael McCaul, Mike Conaway, and Kenny Ewell Marchant.

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit, progressive legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. CREW drafted the ethics complaint, filed by former Congressman Chris Bell (D-TX), for which Tom Delay was admonished.