I thought nothing could make me come to the defense of Tom Delay, but I underestimated Ronnie Earle. It now appears that the Austin prosecutor indicted Delay under a law that didn’t exist at the time the crime supposedly occured. When that flaw was pointed out by Delay’s lawyers, Earle on Monday indicted him on something else–money laundering. (NPR and other major media outlets said it was a “technicality.” I don’t think I would regard it as a “technicality” if I were indicted under a law that didn’t exist.) However, last Wednesday, Earle addressed the money-laundering accusation this way:
REPORTER: Did you seek money laundering charges or indictment on money laundering charges against Mr. DeLay, and if not, why?
EARLE: The grand jury returned the indictments that the grand jurors felt were appropriate to the evidence that was presented in this case.
On Wednesday, one grand jury saw no merit in a money laundering charge. Suddenly on Monday, another grand jury looks at the same evidence and suddenly discovered a crime. And so it goes under Ronnie Earle. Let us not forget he also indicted Kay Bailey Hutchison. How did that one turn out, Ronnie?
