Texans for Texas demand that Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle refrain from making wild prejudicial statements in violation of the ethical rules governing Texas lawyers. It’s appalling that his excessive and selective prosecution of Texans for a Republican Majority has turned into a witch hunt with national spotlights and fame for Earle.
copyright, Austin Chronicle
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Is Mr. Earle attempting to improperly influence prospective members of the jury through his statements in the media? Among his numerous public comments on the pending case against TRMPAC, Mr. Earle recently told the Austin American-Statesman that “coordination is just a fancy word for conspiracy" and in a November 23 New York Times op-ed accused Congressman Tom DeLay and his colleagues of "hypocrisy" and "holding the public in contempt." District Attorneys from around Texas are wondering why Mr. Earle doesn’t observe Sections 3.07 and 3.09 of the Texas Rules of Disciplinary Conduct governing lawyers. The code “strictly prohibits prosecutors from attempting to influence prospective jury members through pretrial publicity."
Why doesn’t he apply the same legal standard to identical Democrat fundraising?
If Earle was unbiased, he would also be prosecuting the Democratic Party for funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars in soft money, including corporate funds, from their national party coffers to the Texas party, as documented in a report by The Institute on Money in State Politics
(http://www.followthemoney.org/press/TX/20030930.pdf).
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Earle has no credibility as long as he continues to put Republicans in his crosshairs while turning a blind eye to the same conduct by his own Democrat cronies.
We find Earle's indictment of numerous corporations to be an obvious indication that he is overreaching. The law does not permit corporations to be held liable for any subsequent misuse of funds that were lawfully donated. In light of his decision earlier this month to dismiss charges against one indicted corporation, it appears that Earle is simply trying to browbeat totally innocent businesses into settling to avoid negative publicity.
The Institute on Money in Politics found eight trades of soft money for hard money, all between the Democratic National Committee and the Texas Democratic Party. In two trades in 1998, the DNC sent $172,500 in soft money to Texas, and the state party sent back $150,000 in hard money. In two trades in 2000, the DNC sent $150,000 of soft money and received $125,000 in hard money. And over a series of four trades in 2002, the DNC gave the state party $255,000 in soft money, and the Texas Democratic Party sent $225,000 in hard money to the DNC.
The report by the Institute also shows that in the 2002 election cycle the Texas Partnership PAC chaired by former House Speaker James E. "Pete" Laney (2002 Form 990, Internal Revenue Service), transferred over $350,000 (though the Institute's report does not mention the recipient of those funds, it is clear from Texas Ethics Commission records that most, if not all, of those dollars went to the Texas Democratic Party as a pass through to Democratic candidates for Texas House of Representatives).
Liberal Travis County voters may get to choose a far left Democrat attack dog to be their District Attorney, but they shouldn't have veto power over the leaders elected by other Texans.
The Institute's report is available at
http://www.followthemoney.org/press/TX/20030930.pdf
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