There are any number of amusing angles to the latest Tom DeLay revelations, but the scandal-ridden Majority Leader’s response to the whole mess was my personal favorite. It’s a keeper.
The airfare to London and Scotland in 2000 for then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Tex.) was charged to an American Express card issued to Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist at the center of a federal criminal and tax probe, according to two sources who know Abramoff’s credit card account number and to a copy of a travel invoice displaying that number.
DeLay’s expenses during the same trip for food, phone calls and other items at a golf course hotel in Scotland were billed to a different credit card also used on the trip by a second registered Washington lobbyist, Edwin A. Buckham, according to receipts documenting that portion of the trip.
House ethics rules bar lawmakers from accepting travel and related expenses from registered lobbyists…. The documents obtained by The Washington Post, including receipts for his hotel stays in Scotland and London and billings for his golfing during the trip at the famed St. Andrews course in Scotland, substantiate for the first time that some of DeLay’s expenses on the trip were billed to charge cards used by the two lobbyists.
DeLay’s busted, right? Yes, but let’s first consider DeLay’s defense.
DeLay’s lawyer, Bobby R. Burchfield, said that DeLay’s staff was aware that Preston Gates was trying to arrange meetings and hotels for the trip but that DeLay was unaware of the “logistics” of bill payments, and that DeLay “continues to understand his expenses” were properly paid by the nonprofit organization, the National Center for Public Policy Research.
To hear DeLay’s side of things, the Majority Leader enjoyed an all-expense-paid trip with a corrupt lobbyist, the lobbyist put the whole thing on his credit card, but DeLay’s in the clear because he assumed Abramoff was being reimbursed by the lobbyist’s non-profit organization.
But let’s be clear: that’s not a defense; it’s an admission of guilt. House rules prohibit lawmakers from taking lobbyist-sponsored trips, which DeLay obviously did, but the same rules also prohibit lawmakers from the same arrangement when the lobbyist is later reimbursed.
In other words, DeLay’s argument is, “I didn’t violate that House rule; I violated a different House rule.” This is his defense.
Moreover, looking behind the story, one has to wonder who’s leaking these salacious details to the press. In running its front-page story, the Post obtained receipts and invoices relating to hotel rooms, plane fares, and golf expenses. Moreover, the use of Abramoff’s credit card was corroborated by “two sources who know Abramoff’s credit card account number.”
We’re talking about a fairly small universe here. Sounds like the GOP’s long knives are out.
For the past couple of months, I’ve suspected that DeLay would rally the troops and survive these scandals, short of getting indicted in Texas. Now, I’ve finally come around. Time to update the resume, Tom.