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Ronnie Earle Browbeat Grand Jury
Travis County prosecutor Ronnie Earle became visibly angry when one of at least six grand juries he convened to investigate House Majority Leader Tom DeLay rejected his claim that the top Republican had engaged in a money laundering conspiracy. "The mood was unpleasant," a source familiar with that grand jury's proceedings tells the Associated Press. The source revealed that Earle tried to convince the grand jurors that DeLay had guilty knowledge of a money laundering conspiracy by arguing that because he "didn't say, 'Stop it,' he gave his tacit approval." That grand jury, Earle's fifth, rejected the prosecution, saying, "We have inquired carefully into the case" and "failed to find a bill of indictment against [DeLay]."
Story Continues Below The move so angered the Travis County prosecutor that he immediately convened a sixth grand jury, which accepted Earle's money laundering charges and filed a two count indictment. Earle's fourth grand jury charged DeLay last Wednesday with being part of a conspiracy to violate Texas campaign finance charges, but did not implicate him in money laundering. That grand jury's term expired the same day. The move forced the top Republican to step down from his House leadership post. "[Earle] convened three grand juries in the space of five business days," DeLay lawyer Dick DeGuerin complained to ABC Radio host Sean Hannity on Wednesday, referring the prosecution's most recent efforts. Asked how many grand juries Earle had convened in the course of his two year DeLay probe, DeGuerin said, "It was probably six or seven." Earle apparently declined to present a case for DeLay's indictment to his first three grand juries. When Earle's fifth grand jury rejected his attempt to indict Delay on money laundering charges, he reportedly convened a sixth grand jury on Monday. That grand jury returned a two count indictment against DeLay in less than five hours. Editor's note:
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