AUSTIN, Texas – Rep. Tom DeLay appeared in court as a criminal defendant for the first time Friday, listening while his lawyer pointedly asked the presiding judge to step aside for making campaign donations to Democrats and their liberal allies.
In a hearing that lasted less than five minutes, Judge Bob Perkins deferred further proceedings until a hearing can be held on the lawmaker’s request for a new judge. DeLay will have a chance to plead innocent inside a courtroom later, and he made his claim vigorously Friday outside the state Capitol.
“I will be exonerated,” the Texas Republican said, following with blistering criticism of prosecutor Ronnie Earle. The appearance came one day after DeLay was booked and photographed at a county jail.
The former Republican leader, charged with conspiracy and money laundering in a campaign finance case, smiled occasionally as he sat alongside his wife Christine in the courtroom.
DeLay’s favorable rating plummeted to 18 percent in the latest CNN-USA Today-Gallup poll – down from 27 percent in May.
In court Friday, rather than the corporate donations DeLay is accused of illegally funneling to candidates, defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin made an issue of the $3,400 in political donations the judge has made to Democratic causes, including MoveOn.org, a group critical of DeLay and Republicans.
Outside the courtroom, the prosecutor spoke dismissively of DeLay’s efforts to get Perkins to step aside. Judges in Texas must run for election and DeLay’s lawyers filed a motion Thursday identifying 34 donations Perkins had made.
“What this means is if a judge had contributed to Crime Stoppers that judge could not hear a burglary case,” said Earle, a Democrat. “Carried to its extreme, that is what I think this motion means, and I think that’s absurd.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
