The subject field of this blog entry is the same as the Austin American-Statesman's front-page story Saturday, February 5, 2005.

In the online list of articles in the 'News' section the entry (linked below, unfortunately expires Saturday) this is entitled "TAB letter, phone calls to voters no coincidence".

I know that the headlines / titles for the online and print versions *usually* differ but one wonders why the online entry is so modest and unassuming.

This subject as some of you may be aware, is complex. It is whether or not Texans for a Republican Majority, a PAC created by Tom DeLay, broke Texas State law by using corporate money for political activity in the 2000 state elections.

The reason the R's tried to repeal their own rules recently (that someone in a leadership position would be required to step down if indicted) was to protect DeLay, who is thought to be a target of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earles's grand jury investigation.

If the story is accurate, this is getting much *more* interesting.

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AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

Saturday, February 5, 2005

As a California phone bank was urging a select group of Texans to vote for Republican legislative candidates during the final days of the 2002 election, Texas Association of Business President Bill Hammond was touting those candidates in a letter mailed to the same likely GOP voters.

It was no coincidence that the phone calls and Hammond's letter targeted the same list, created with corporate money from Texans for a Republican Majority, a political committee led by U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land.

The parallel events, revealed in documents obtained by the Austin American-Statesman, provide further evidence that GOP fund-raisers and backers may have used corporate contributions to coordinate their election efforts and support individual candidates. State law prohibits using corporate money for political activity, which both groups deny doing, but a Travis County grand jury indicted three Republican consultants last September as part of a two-year criminal investigation.

The two groups' responses to the latest revelations also demonstrate that their versions of what happened in 2002 continue to change over time.

A year ago, Hammond, through his lawyer Andy Taylor, told the American-Statesman that the California phone bank, Contact America, billed TAB by mistake and the state's largest business organization never used the phone bank's mailing list.

Now documents, including e-mails, invoices and voided checks, show that TAB did use the mailing list for a letter-writing campaign that complemented get-out-the-vote efforts by Texans for a Republican Majority.

Lawyers for Democrats accuse the two organizations of conspiring to circumvent a law barring corporate money from being spent on political activity. Taylor and Terry Scarborough, who represents Texans for a Republican Majority, said their clients never used corporate money to advocate the election or defeat of any candidate.

"With corporate money they identified voters in specific districts, they mailed endorsement letters to those voters and then made get-out-the-vote calls to the voters," said Austin lawyer Cris Feldman, who is suing both groups on behalf of Democrats. "If that's not electioneering, what is?"

Taylor said TAB should be judged on its words to voters, not its actions.

"Under the First Amendment, it's the content of the speech, not the motivation of the speaker that counts," Taylor said.

more.