DELAY FACT CHECK #3
Tom DeLay & TRMPAC

MYTH:

Tom DeLay statement on TRMPAC from Hardball:  "That's TRMPAC. That's not me...I was simply, along with four other elected officials, on an advisory board. They used my name as headliners for fundraisers and I had no idea what they were doing."

FACT:

Tom DeLay is TRMPAC:

DELAY SAID TRMPAC WAS HIS IDEA: "U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, said Wednesday that it was his idea to create Texans for a Republican Majority." [Austin American Statesman, 3/10/05]

DELAY ADMITTED HE WAS A "CREATOR, ADVISOR AND FUNDRAISER" FOR TRMPAC: "House Majority Leader Tom DeLay said Wednesday he served as a creator, adviser and fund-raiser to a Texas-based political action committee now under state criminal investigation." [Houston Chronicle, 3/10/04]

TRMPAC LITERATURE NAMES DELAY AS ORGANZATION "LEADER": "Q: Who is Leading Texas for a Republican Majority? A: The leadership of the PAC includes Rep. Tom DeLay..." [TRMPAC, Q&A For Potential Media Inquires]

EVIDENCE SUGGESTS DELAY WAS INVOLVED IN COLLECTING CORPORATE CONTRIBUTIONS: "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." [New York Times, 3/9/05]

DELAY PARTICIPATED IN TRMPAC FINANCE COMMITTEE CONFERENCE CALLS: [TRMPAC, 10/5/02]

Data collected by Center for American Progress.

Tom DeLay:  He'll say anything to save himself.