Not off the hook

Reports that anyone may be off the hook in the Travis County grand jury investigations are premature.

Assistant District Attorney Gregg Cox, who is leading the investigation, said all individuals associated with Texans for a Republican Majority are still potential suspects in the case. But Cox said no further grand jury investigation or potential indictments will occur before January.

"No one has ever named Tom DeLay or any other individual as a target in this investigation. Nor have we ever said that anyone is off the hook," Cox said.

Cox said District Attorney Ronnie Earle "has repeatedly said that anybody who committed a crime is a target in this investigation. And this investigation is ongoing."

Cox reacted to a CBS News report that said DeLay is unlikely to be indicted in the case by saying, "It would be premature to talk about who may or may not be indicted at this point."

Three of DeLay's political associates have been indicted on charges of illegally flowing corporate money into 2002 Republican campaigns for the Texas House.

The GOP takeover of the House in that election set the stage for DeLay to push a major congressional redistricting bill through the Legislature.

Cox said prosecutors in those cases have been too busy to present any additional information to the current grand juries.

"Given the limited amount of time left in the term of these grand juries, combined with the time off for the holidays and other interruptions that we expect, it's not feasible to start with anything with these grand juries," Cox said. "So we will probably wait until January to begin any major action in the grand jury."

Which is consistent with what they've been saying all along about who is and isn't a target. It doesn't specifically refute what the anonymous source said, but neither does it confirm anything. So sit tight for awhile, they'll be back after the holidays.

In maybe-related, maybe-not news, the President and CEO of Bacardi, one of the TRMPAC Indicted Eight, has resigned to "spend more time with his family". Make of that what you will.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on November 23, 2004 to Scandalized! | TrackBack