DeLay's Lawyers Press Judge to Step Aside


AUSTIN, Texas - Proceedings in the political-money case against Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, are on hold after the congressman's lawyer asked the presiding judge to step aside because he made campaign donations to Democrats and their liberal allies.





After a hearing that lasted less than five minutes Friday, Judge Bob Perkins deferred further proceedings, including the entry of a plea, until a hearing can be held on DeLay's request for a new judge.

The former House Republican leader, charged with conspiracy and money laundering, did not speak during the brief session but read a statement later accusing prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a Democrat, of partisanship.

He said that because Earle and the Democratic Party "could not beat me at the ballot box and could not beat me on the floor of the House of Representatives, they are now desperately trying to challenge me in a courtroom."

Defense lawyer Dick DeGuerin made an issue of the $3,400 in political donations the judge has made to Democratic causes, including one to MoveOn.org, a group critical of DeLay and Republicans.

Perkins denied bias but ended the exchange quickly, saying, "The best way for me to handle" the request for a different judge would be to defer further proceedings.

That means the issue now goes to hearing before a state administrative judge, B.B. Schraub.

Schraub, a Republican, became an administrative judge in 1990 and was appointed or reappointed by four governors: three Republicans and one Democrat. Schraub, from 1989 through 2002, contributed at least $1,500 to federal Republican campaigns, according to disclosure reports compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.

He donated an additional $4,900 to Texas GOP candidates between 1998 and 2001, according to state disclosure reports analyzed by a public interest group, Texans for Public Justice.

Outside the courtroom, prosecutor Earle 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. "Carried to its extreme, that is what I think this motion means and I think that's absurd."

DeLay and two political associates are accused of funneling corporate money to Texas legislative campaigns, in violation of state law prohibiting use of these donations for election or defeat of state candidates.

Two grand juries accused the three men of sending $190,000 in corporate money, raised by a Texas group founded by DeLay, to the Republican National Committee in Washington, and having the money routed back to several Texas candidates.

The felony charges triggered an upheaval in the House Republican leadership, as DeLay was obligated to step aside under House rules.