TylerPaper.com
WASHINGTON - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has been subpoenaed in a Texas civil lawsuit to testify about his role in using government resources to track down Democratic legislators who fled the state during last year's bitter redistricting dispute.
The subpoena was delivered to DeLay's lawyers in Houston on Wednesday after an attempt to serve DeLay personally failed, said Rep. Lon Burnam, the Democratic state lawmaker from Fort Worth who filed the lawsuit.
The subpoena calls for DeLay to give a deposition in Austin on Monday.
...Burnam said there is a "litany of questions with regard to misuse of public funds" to pursue Democratic House members who fled to Ardmore, Okla., and DeLay's role in that.
...More than 50 state House Democrats, including Burnam, went to Oklahoma in May 2003 to prevent the quorum needed to pass a congressional redistricting map engineered by Republicans and pushed by DeLay.
Department of Public Safety troopers were dispatched to find the Democrats and return them to Austin. A division of the Department of Homeland Security also was contacted to help search for a plane owned by Democratic Rep. Pete Laney, which took some of the lawmakers to Oklahoma.
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And from Democracy for America . . .
Put this ad on the air - in Tom DeLay's backyard.
Against all odds, the Republican House Majority Leader faces a do-or-die fight for re-election. His top aides have been arrested and indicted. Even his own colleagues on the Ethics Committee (many of them recipients of DeLay machine money) documented his wrongdoing — but they failed to hold him accountable. Only the Texans in his district can do that now.
Tom DeLay is an embarrassment. He operates the most corrupt money-for-influence machine in Washington. He abuses the power of his office — in one case even sending the Homeland Security forces after his political opponents. (see above)
There's a chance to turn this unexpectedly competitive race into a major upset.
To watch the ad or to contribute to the cause, click here.
