Houston Democrats

Via Clean Up Texas Politics:

Austin American Statesman: State Won't Sue TRMPAC for Damages

Attorney general opts not to pursue civil case, which would allow state to collect triple damages if it won

By Laylan Copelin

Three Texas House Democrats tried Friday to prod the state's top lawyer into pursuing damages against Texans for a Republican Majority, the political action committee that a judge has ruled violated campaign finance laws.

Attorney General Greg Abbott, a Republican with his own ties to groups accused of illegally spending corporate money, said no.

Citing state District Judge Joe Hart's decision Thursday against the political committee, Reps. Jim Dunnam of Waco, Pete Gallego of Alpine and Garnet Coleman of Houston asked Abbott to collect almost $3.9 million in damages for taxpayers.

Abbott said the Democrats are misreading Hart's decision, which found that the committee's treasurer, former Dallas Rep. Bill Ceverha, failed to disclose almost $1.3 million in corporate donations and expenditures during the 2002 legislative campaign. The judge ordered Ceverha to pay almost $200,000 in damages to the five defeated Democrats who sued him.

"The state of Texas is not party to the civil lawsuit," Abbott said in a written response, "nor has there been any litigation or award of money owed to the state."

State law generally forbids corporate money from being spent on campaigns except to pay the overhead of a political action committee. The election law allows private attorneys to sue to collect double damages for injured candidates, and allows the attorney general to sue to collect triple damages for taxpayers.

The judge cited the attorney general option in his calculation of damages.

That prompted the question of why Abbott has declined to sue any of the Republican or advocacy groups accused of illegally spending corporate money in the 2002 elections.

"We will have no further comment," said Abbott's communications director, Angela Hale, on Friday.

In 2002, two parties now caught in the legal cross hairs assisted Abbott's campaign for attorney general.

John Colyandro, the executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority, was an adviser to Abbott's campaign. A Travis County grand jury indicted Colyandro on charges of money laundering and accepting illegal corporate donations. Defeated Democrats also have sued him. Colyandro's part in the lawsuit was suspended until he deals with the criminal charges.

The Law Enforcement Alliance of America, a Virginia-based group, also spent corporate money to run TV ads against Abbott's opponent, former Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. At the time, Abbott said his campaign did not coordinate its efforts with the alliance, though Colyandro said he recruited the group to help in Texas legislative races.

Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is investigating the law enforcement group, and Austin attorney Buck Wood has sued it on behalf of Watson.

In his statement Friday, Abbott promised to continue to "rigorously review the facts and law" and take appropriate action in the case.

There's a practical reason the attorney general might not go after Texans for a Republican Majority: It's broke.

The group's lawyer, Terry Scarborough of Austin, said, "TRMPAC doesn't have any money, and no one would give it money now."

I think this article pretty much speaks for itself. However, I'm not so sure about the last that states no one would give money to TRMPAC. People, including politicians, are still giving money to DeLay despite the mounting allegations against him. The Harris County Republican Party has proclaimed its allegiance to DeLay as well, so why would "moral" Republicans avoid giving money to TRMPAC if given the opportunity?