Statement of Craig McDonald, TPJ Director, on New York Times re: Craddick/DeLay investigation
| For Immediate Release: | For More Information Contact: |
| February 16, 2004 | Craig McDonald, 512-472-9770 |
"Today's New York Times report by Richard Oppel, Jr., delves deeper into the murky swamp underlying Texas' 2002 elections. The most troubling new finding is that Texas Speaker Tom Craddick apparently used Tom Delay's TRMPAC as a springboard to the speakership. Why else would TRMPAC use Craddick as a courier to dole out $152,000 to GOP House candidates?
To ensure that speaker candidates do not attempt to influence their colleagues' votes with special-interest money, Texas law (Chapter 302, Government Code) requires speaker candidates to establish separate speaker committees that cannot finance the campaigns of other House members. The Times story suggests that Craddick may have sidestepped this law by using DeLay's TRMPAC as a proxy. This is all the more disturbing given that Craddick made DeLay's redistricting agenda the centerpiece of his first session as speaker.
The ongoing Travis County criminal investigation needs to get to the bottom of this quagmire. Texans have the right to know if their speaker cheated to get the job."
To ensure that speaker candidates do not attempt to influence their colleagues' votes with special-interest money, Texas law (Chapter 302, Government Code) requires speaker candidates to establish separate speaker committees that cannot finance the campaigns of other House members. The Times story suggests that Craddick may have sidestepped this law by using DeLay's TRMPAC as a proxy. This is all the more disturbing given that Craddick made DeLay's redistricting agenda the centerpiece of his first session as speaker.
The ongoing Travis County criminal investigation needs to get to the bottom of this quagmire. Texans have the right to know if their speaker cheated to get the job."
