Houston Democrats

Both men worked for Tom DeLay, Abramoff as a lobbyist and Scanlon was DeLay's chief of staff. The Justice Department is investigating them for allegedly taking over $60 million from Indian tribes without providing any services, including the Louisiana Coushattas and the Mississippi Band of Choctaws.

The Austin-based law firm happens to be defending TRMPAC. Kent Hance, a former Texas congressman, says it is merely a "coincidence" that he is representing the Coushattas and his partner, Terry Scarborough is representing TRMPAC, defending its former treasurer Bill Ceverha. Hance says DeLay had no part in his getting the work and that the TRMPAC case is a "separate matter."

You would think that with all the attention that DeLay's dealings are getting, these groups would be smart enough to get separate law firms to represent them, to maintain an image of separateness.

Meanwhile up on the Hill...

From the Stakeholder:
"Washington, DC - Led by Ranking Member, Rep. Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY-28), Democratic members of the House Committee on Rules today called on Republican Chairman David Dreier to hold hearings on House Ethics, and specifically on H. Res. 131, a bipartisan proposal to restore the ethics complaint process after it was unilaterally gutted by the Republican leadership at the beginning of the 109th Congress."

[...]

"Although H. Res. 131 would typically be referred to the Subcommittee on Rules & the Organization of the House, which is chaired by Rep. Hastings of Washington, the Democratic Members of the Committee have requested a full committee hearing instead, given the obvious conflict-of-interest it would create for Rep. Hastings, whom the Republican leadership recently made chairman of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee)."

You can read the letter to Chairman Dreier in the Stakeholder's post.

Since March 15th nearly 11,500 people have signed the petition calling for Tom DeLay's resignation.