September 19th, 2013
11:44 AM ET

Tom DeLay's conviction tossed

Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's conviction on money laundering charges was overturned Thursday by a court in Texas.

DeLay, who was once one of the most powerful men on Capitol Hill, was convicted in 2010 for allegedly trying to influence Texas elections by trying to channel nearly $200,000 in corporate donations to Republicans running for the state legislature, which is prohibited by Lone Star state law. Delay, who served more than two decades in the House before resigning in 2006, was sentenced to three years in prison.

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Filed under: Politics • Texas
soundoff (19 Responses)
  1. Sure

    Sure. Reward thievery. Reward corruption. These are your representatives. Whatcha wanna bet that Texas would vote this guy back into the House? He'd fit right in.

    September 19, 2013 at 12:53 pm | Report abuse |
  2. mgtrrz

    'WHO' did Tom DeLay 'PAY-OFF' for Saving His SKIN???????????????????????????????

    September 19, 2013 at 1:16 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Observer

    Stage 4 Obama Derangement Syndrome
    Opposition to Obama becomes not just predictable, but a force of habit. Those afflicted use phrases like, "Anyone but Obama." The diseased begin to take any position, so long as it is not Obama's position. They begin to mock ideas like "hope" and "change" as naive, simply because Obama embodies them.

    September 19, 2013 at 4:15 pm | Report abuse |
    • Whitney

      It's too easy to attack this lame duck. Don't like it. Too bad bud.

      September 20, 2013 at 2:45 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      Lame duck is exactly how to describe Congress. Passing feel-good about themselves legislation that they know won't go anywhere and wasting millions of dollars. Thanks for the reminder.

      September 20, 2013 at 4:06 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho

    Does Roem have any idea how bloated he is getting from his obsession with pizza?

    September 19, 2013 at 5:22 pm | Report abuse |
  5. Jeff Frank (R-Ohio) "Right Wing Insanity"

    The liberal democrats should take a real good whiff of what they've been shovel'in.

    September 19, 2013 at 5:30 pm | Report abuse |
    • RepublicanRedRash

      Somebody suffers from an itchy rash. Just don't smell your fingers after your scratch.....

      September 19, 2013 at 6:55 pm | Report abuse |
  6. saywhat

    Pinning all on Obama has become a compulsion with his opponents, who to this day havn't been able to swallow his being in the W.H @Observer.
    An objective look at what has been happening in and to this country over the past decade and continuing is largely due to this very sentiment afflicting the neocon dominated War Party.

    September 19, 2013 at 6:24 pm | Report abuse |
    • Whitney

      The very first black prez and the very last.

      September 20, 2013 at 2:44 pm | Report abuse |
    • banasy©

      Your name should be Whitey.

      September 20, 2013 at 3:59 pm | Report abuse |
  7. saywhat

    Congress of the US of A has failed its people. Self serving, servile to foreign lobbies and special interest its majority cannot see beyond the next election.

    September 19, 2013 at 6:27 pm | Report abuse |
  8. Jeff Frank (R-Ohio)"The Lunatic Fringe"

    RepublicanRedRash:
    If you want to be a sucessfull plumber in life...two things you must remember.
    1. Water runs downhill.
    2. NEVER bite your fingernails.

    September 19, 2013 at 7:44 pm | Report abuse |
  9. Jeff Frank (R-Ohio) "Right Wing Insanity"

    USA TODAY
    3 hours ago
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    Jack Plunkett, AP
    Former House majority leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.
    WASHINGTON - A Texas court threw out the money-laundering conviction of former House majority leader Tom DeLay, saying prosecutors failed to prove that he broke the law in a fundraising scandal from the 2002 elections.

    The Texas Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion released Thursday by Justice Melissa Goodwin, said instead that "the evidence shows that the defendants were attempting to comply with the election code limitations on corporate contributions."

    "The evidence was legally insufficient to sustain DeLay's convictions," the court said in its 2-1 ruling. The judges said they "reverse the judgments of the trial court" and acquit DeLay, once one of the most powerful Republicans in Congress, of all charges.

    September 19, 2013 at 8:24 pm | Report abuse |
    • Observer

      Did you know that the judge who wrote the opinion is accused of corruption and is under investigation? Are you aware that the two judges set aside the jury's verdict are Republican? That the dissenting opinion is a Democrat? And that one of the judges is a "guest" judge? Money talks in Texas, and crooks walk.

      September 19, 2013 at 10:40 pm | Report abuse |
    • Observer

      Did you know that one of the judges is under investigation for corruption? And that the two who agreed to willfully overturn the jury's verdict were Republican? And one of the two was a "guest" judge? In Rupublican Texas, money talks, and crooks walk. This will be appealed, and the jury's verdict reinstated.

      September 19, 2013 at 11:11 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Julio

    Delay's lib Austin prosecutor Ronnie Earle is a political hack of the evil sinister dim o crats who happily misuse the power of the judiciary to crush honest dissent, sort of like Lois Lerner at the IRS. There never was corruption. This was malicious prosecution by a party tool to break the then-juggernaut of Texas conservatism by blatant political partisan prosecution. Eight years of misery and suffering, I hope you can bounce back, Tom. Sorry for the misery the dims gave you.

    September 20, 2013 at 8:41 am | Report abuse |
  11. julieejulia6

    my buddy's mother-in-law makes $81 an hour on the laptop. She has been fired for 6 months but last month her pay check was $16282 just working on the laptop for a few hours. see page......http://x.co/2OZmB

    September 21, 2013 at 12:48 pm | Report abuse |
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