Ronnie Earle, the Democratic Travis County, Tex., prosecutor who has threatened for months to bring legal action against Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay (Tex.) has evidently decided he cannot bring "the Hammer" down. So he will try to wound him instead. Earle has indicted three DeLay aides who ran a political action committee called Texans for a Republican Majority PAC. The three are accused of directing corporate contributions to Texas legislative candidates in 2002, but by most interpretations their activities were perfectly legal.
Another victim of Earle's partisan zeal was Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R.-Tex.). In 1993, after Hutchinson had won her seat in a special election, Earle charged her with misusing public employees and equipment, and of destroying government documents to cover up. But he was forced to drop the case on the first day of trial. "[Earle] has in the past used his office for partisan political advantage," Hutchison told HUMAN EVENTS. "He came after me because he knew I was up for re-election the next year."
