Houston Democrats

The documents cited in an on-going civil trial against Bill Ceverha, the TRMPAC treasurer, establish a working relationship between ARMPAC and TRMPAC. Additionally, they raise suspicion that ARMPAC gave corporate money to political campaigns in Texas. Dan Allen, a spokesman for Tom DeLay said, "All those contributions were legal and proper.” The documents include copies of checks and letters on TRMPAC stationary that were delivered to 15 House candidates. The amounts ranged from $1,000 to $2,500.

The letters to House candidates included the following passage:

"We are pleased to send you a contribution of (amount) compliments of Congressman Tom DeLay's political action committee Americans for a Republican Majority," the letter said. "Congressman DeLay is as equally committed to winning a House Republican majority in Texas as he is maintaining a Republican majority in the U.S. Congress."

Ceverha says he never saw the letters, claiming that he never saw most of what TRMPAC sent out in his name, but the letters had his signature at the bottom.

" The new information "weaves the web a little broader," said Craig McDonald, executive director of Texans for Public Justice, an advocacy organization that filed the first criminal complaint against TRMPAC in March 2003." It has the potential to draw ARMPAC into the criminal investigation," McDonald said.

"We haven't seen the level of coordination that ARMPAC checks were being funneled through TRMPAC operatives. So it's a new revelation on how the two PACS might have been working hand in hand." McDonald said if ARMPAC used corporate money to raise funds for Texas House candidates, it would have the same legal liability under Texas law as TRMPAC.

ARMPAC raised more than $3.2 million during the 2002 election cycle, with more than $1 million of that coming from corporations. ARMPAC paid its fund-raiser, Warren RoBold, more than $233,000. RoBold is one of three people indicted by a Travis County grand jury in the TRMPAC investigation on charges of violating Texas election law prohibiting corporate spending to influence candidate elections. RoBold raised most of TRMPAC's corporate donations.

RoBold, through his lawyer, Rusty Hardin of Houston, has maintained his innocence. E-mail RoBold released in the pending civil lawsuit show he often worked out of the ARMPAC offices while raising money for TRMPAC. One e-mail message shows RoBold had TRMPAC letterhead delivered to the ARMPAC office. "

Read the full article in the Houston Chronicle.

Check out Off the Kuff’s in depth report on DeLay.