# Is Tom DeLay Going to Jail? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 12, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533 "2004-04-12T00:48:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/1 "2004-04-12T00:48:17Z")
I’ve been halfheartedly following the travails of Tom deLay and the grand jury investigation of his Texas PAC activities. The case being in Texas, most of the reporting on it appears to be written in Texan, which does not translate well into non-Texan. What _looks_ to be a fairly reasonable article on deLay’s troubles came out today: [PAC money trips up Texas GOP](http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgazette/news/editorial/8407725.htm) However, it may be just a pile of biased crappola. Can any Texans, current or recovering, cut through the bull, and give me an idea of just how much trouble friend Tom is actually in? ---
**Author:** ![laigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laigle)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/2 "2004-04-12T00:56:35Z")
Please JesusAllahBuddhaThor, pretty pretty motherfucking please, I swear I’ll stop drinking in the morning on workdays, just PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE let this schmuck wind up behind bars! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/3 "2004-04-12T01:52:19Z")
Universe, I know I haven’t been a very good pantheist, but if I can just add my fervent prayers to those of friend **laigle** that this weeping pustule shall cease to infect our nation’s Congress, and find his proper place amongst acknowledged criminals, I promise that I shall never so much as annoy a whale. If need be, I will limit myself to strictly Amish technology (though 1kb per hour upload is a _bitch_). I will simply _reek_ with humility. I will instantly forgive all of my enemies, and both of my friends. And if it isn’t too much to ask, could the next blazing asshole _not_ be from Texas? Your sincere etc., **e.** ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/4 "2004-04-12T02:09:03Z")
If there is a God… ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/5 "2004-04-12T03:47:59Z")
Molly Ivins wrote that article, and she can spew out the biased crapola, so be careful. I’m a native Texan, although from far away from Delay’s district, and here’s my take on it. Corporations can’t contribute to candidates in Texas, but they can to PACs. There are allegations that the PACs helped specific candidates. It wasn’t clear to me that this is illegal, although I can see it would be in the gray area of the law. But it’s really complicated, attested to by the fact that Molly didn’t actually spell it out, only giving a reference to it. Maybe this kind of stuff would get an indictment from a grand jury, but it’s sure not the kind of scandalous thing that captures voters’ attentions and gets them mad. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/6 "2004-04-12T04:09:32Z")
Indictments themselves get public attention no matter what they’re for, though. But yeah, betcha this’ll only keep him quieter for a while. _“If you can’t take their money, drink their liquor, screw their women, and still vote against 'em in the morning, you don’t belong here.”_ - Jesse Unruh, former California Assembly Speaker ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/7 "2004-04-12T06:22:12Z")
> [@CurtC](#): > > Molly Ivins wrote that article, and she can spew out the biased crapola, so be careful… Prove it. ---
**Author:** ![OliverTwistofLime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b487fb/32.png) [@OliverTwistofLime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OliverTwistofLime)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2004, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/8 "2004-04-12T06:39:31Z")
As long as Bush remains in power, Tom DeLay will not be jailed. DeLay would blow the whistle on his knowledge of our President’s closet skeletons if he spent a day behind bars. So IMHO, he is safe for now. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/9 "2004-07-12T03:44:01Z")
> [@Reeder](#): > > If there is a God… That’s looking like a distinct possibility: > [@](#): > > In May 2001, Enron’s top lobbyists in Washington advised the company chairman that then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was pressing for a $100,000 contribution to his political action committee > … > DeLay requested that the new donation come from “a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron’s executives,” with the understanding that it would be partly spent on “the redistricting effort in Texas,” said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson. > > The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of Houston-based Enron, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by The Washington Post that show DeLay and his associates directed money from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts. > … > Texas law bars corporate financing of state legislature campaigns, and a Texas criminal prosecutor is in the 20th month of digging through records of the fundraising, looking at possible violations of at least three statutes. [DeLay’s Corporate Fundraising Investigated](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A43219-2004Jul11.html) While the article states that deLay has not been targeted by investigators, I’d imagine that the appearance of a smoking gun could quickly change that. Still, this is Texas, and the law does have some exceptions for corporate donations to PACS. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/10 "2004-07-12T04:08:12Z")
Simple answer? Nope, not a chance. But by all means, enjoy your silly fantasies. ---
**Author:** ![hazel-rah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/73ab20/32.png) [@hazel-rah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hazel-rah)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/11 "2004-07-12T07:41:58Z")
Probably not, but if it makes you feel any better he’s most certainly going to hell. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/12 "2004-07-12T14:00:24Z")
My guess is that there’s no controlling legal authority. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/13 "2004-07-12T18:09:56Z")
> [@](#): > > My guess is that there’s no controlling legal authority. Don’t you just hope so? You cannot imaging the delight engendered by hearing that phrase emerge from Representative Delay’s mouth. It would persuade me that there is a God and that He/She is just. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2004, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/14 "2004-07-12T18:42:58Z")
Isn’t the main problem that many of the people who are supposed to take action against Delay are friends, fellow party members, and people for whom he’s raised quite a bit of money for? Not exactly a good sign if you are expecting anything to come of it. ---
**Author:** ![BarnOwl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e95f7d/32.png) [@BarnOwl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BarnOwl)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/15 "2004-07-13T16:15:05Z")
In another recent thread, Elucidator expressed great enthusiasm over the prospect of Tom Delay going to jail. I wish I could share his optimism, but sadly, this just won’t happen. DeLay has almost certainly violated a 100 year old Texas law that bars corporate financing of State Legislature campaigns. And yes, there is an inquiry underway, and DeLay has hired not one, but two criminal defense lawyers. But Paul Krugman isn’t at all optimistic that anything will come of this. In fact, he winds up his column in today’s NY Times with a pretty dismal outlook: “…you shouldn’t conclude that the system is working. Mr. DeLay’s current predicament is an accident. The party machine that he has done so much to create has eliminated most of the checks and balances in our government. Again and again, Republicans in Congress have closed ranks to block or emasculate politically inconvenient investigations. If Enron hadn’t collapsed, and if Texas didn’t still have a campaign finance law that is a relic of its populist past, Mr. DeLay would be in no danger at all. “The larger picture is this: Mr… DeLay and his fellow hard-liners whose values are far from the American mainstream, have forged an immensely effective alliance with corporate interests. And they may be just one election away from achieving a long-term lock on power.” ---
**Author:** ![5que](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/3bc359/32.png) [@5que](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5que)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2004, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/16 "2004-07-13T16:30:33Z")
I just send Richard Morrison $50. It’s kind of like buying a lottery ticket – for a little bit, it gives you great hope for the future. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/17 "2004-07-15T06:28:15Z")
If there us a God… :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2004, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/18 "2004-07-15T14:18:02Z")
From **Squinks** quote: > [@](#): > > DeLay requested that the new donation come from “a combination of corporate and personal money from Enron’s executives,” with the understanding that it would be partly spent on “the redistricting effort in Texas,” said the e-mail to Kenneth L. Lay from lobbyists Rick Shapiro and Linda Robertson. > > The e-mail, which surfaced in a subsequent federal probe of Houston-based Enron, is one of at least a dozen documents obtained by The Washington Post that show DeLay and his associates directed money from corporations and Washington lobbyists to Republican campaign coffers in Texas in 2001 and 2002 as part of a plan to redraw the state’s congressional districts. What does the fact that the courts have already decided to allow the re-drawn congressional districts to stand imply for the rest of the DeLay scenario? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/19 "2010-04-30T00:27:04Z")
[After 8 years, DeLay case could be headed to trial](http://www.statesman.com/news/texas-politics/after-8-years-delay-case-could-be-headed-641231.html) > [@](#): > > Co-defendants of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay suffered a significant setback Wednesday in their quest to avoid a trial on charges that the trio conspired to launder corporate money during the 2002 elections. > > The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously ruled that the lower state 3rd Court of Appeals erred when it accepted the co-defendants’ arguments that the money laundering law did not apply to them because the funds involved were checks, not cash. The all-Republican court, in effect, said the lower court acted prematurely. > > The state’s highest criminal court also dismissed the defendants’ constitutional challenge that Texas’ law banning corporate donations was too vague or overly broad to be understood. So maybe Tom _is_ going to jail after all! ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2010, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533/20 "2010-04-30T00:32:40Z")
_Hang down your head, Tom De-Lay Hang down your head and cry Hang down you head, Tom De-Lay Poor boy, you’re a worthless sack of shit that ensuckens dead donkey balls…_ OK, needs work. Scansion. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-tom-delay-going-to-jail/239533.md?page=2)