[Mb-civic] DeLay Asks Peers to Blame Democrats The Associated Press

[Michael Butler]

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    DeLay Asks Peers to Blame Democrats
    The Associated Press

    Wednesday 13 April 2005

    Embattled House majority leader appeals to GOP senators.

    Washington - House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, hoping to hold support
among fellow Republicans, urged GOP senators Tuesday to blame Democrats if
asked about his ethics controversy and accused the news media of twisting
supportive comments so they sounded like criticism.

    Officials said DeLay recommended that senators respond to questions by
saying Democrats have no agenda other than partisanship, and are attacking
him to prevent Republicans from accomplishing their legislative program. One
Republican said the Texan referred to a "mammoth operation" funded by
Democratic supporters and designed to destroy him as a symbol of the
Republican majority.

    DeLay also thanked Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., for his recent comments
and said the news media had twisted them to make them sound critical, the
officials added, all speaking on condition of anonymity.

    In an appearance on ABC's "This Week" on Sunday, Santorum said DeLay
"has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the
people then judge for themselves. But from everything I've heard, again,
from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done was
according to the law."

    The officials who described DeLay's brief remarks noted that the
session, a regularly scheduled weekly lunch, was held under rules of
secrecy. Dan Allen, DeLay's spokesman, declined comment.

    DeLay's case is at the heart of a broader controversy in the House,
where Democrats accuse Republicans of unilaterally changing ethics committee
rules to prevent any further investigation of DeLay. Republicans have denied
the allegation.

    The panel arranged a meeting for Wednesday, and Rep. Alan Mollohan of
West Virginia, the senior Democrat, said he would renew a push for a
bipartisan rewrite of the rules that Republicans put into effect in January
on a party-line vote. Officials in both parties said they knew of no
compromise discussions.

    'Power of Prayer'

    One senior Republican spoke sympathetically of DeLay after the
closed-door meeting.

    "I hope he survives, and I hope he will stay in there and do his job,"
said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.

    "The power of prayer is the only thing that will sustain you" in the
circumstance DeLay is in, Lott added, and he spoke disparagingly of any
Republicans who fail to stand by the Texan.

    "That's the problem, you know, Republicans eat their own. ... Democrats
stand by their own until hell freezes over," said Lott, who was ousted as
Senate majority leader two years ago after making controversial race-based
comments at a birthday party for the late Strom Thurmond.

    DeLay was admonished three times last year by the House ethics
committee. Recent articles have disclosed that his wife and daughter were
paid approximately $500,000 in recent years by political organizations under
his control, and have raised questions about the financing of three overseas
trips he took.

    DeLay has consistently denied any violation of either law or House
rules.

    Upcoming Legislation

    His private remarks to Senate Republicans were in keeping with the
response frequently offered on his behalf by House Republicans: Blame the
Democrats and occasionally the news media for the scrutiny he faces. House
Republicans intend to follow the script later in the week, hoping to
showcase passage of bankruptcy legislation and estate tax repeal as a
counterpoint to Democratic charges that they are merely power-hungry.

    Several Republicans stressed that DeLay's appearance at the senators'
lunch was routine, noting that GOP leaders of one house have begun attending
meetings of the rank and file of the other house in recent weeks.

    His remarks were "very low-key. It wasn't demanding or threatening or
pounding the table," Lott said afterward.