Illegal fundraising gets a little closer to Tom DeLay

Prosecutors in Texas don’t want to talk about whether House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is the target in the ongoing investigation of illegal corporate campaign contributions and money laundering, but the probe keeps moving in his direction.

Documents subpoenaed from an indicted fund-raiser for Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, suggest that Mr. DeLay was more actively involved than previously known in gathering corporate donations for a political committee that is the focus of a grand-jury investigation in Texas, his home state.

The documents, which were entered into evidence last week in a related civil trial in Austin, the state capital, suggest that Mr. DeLay personally forwarded at least one large corporate check to the committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, and that he was in direct contact with lobbyists for some of the nation’s largest companies on the committee’s behalf.

In an August 2002 document subpoenaed from the files of the indicted fund-raiser, Warren M. RoBold, Mr. RoBold asked for a list of 10 major donors to the committee, saying that “I would then decide from response who Tom DeLay” and others should call to help the committee in seeking a “large contribution.”

Another document is a printout of a July 2002 e-mail message to Mr. RoBold from a political ally of Mr. Delay, requesting a list of corporate lobbyists who would attend a fund-raising event for the committee, adding that “DeLay will want to see a list of attendees” and that the list should be available “on the ground in Austin for T.D. upon his arrival.”

It’s not a smoking gun, but in an investigation of corporate political fundraising, which is illegal in Texas, it’s getting close. Stay tuned.

Remember, DeLay has said that he had “no involvement in the day-to-day fund-raising operations of Texans for a Republican Majority.” This NYT report documents some pretty direct connections between DeLay, the TRM PAC, and corporate fundraising, on top of the connections we already know about (including the indictment of several top DeLay aides in this scandal).

Also remember, the “DeLay Rule” was rescinded a couple of months ago. If DeLay is indicted, he’ll have to give up his leadership post.