DeLay Shocker!—Ethics Violation

Oh, how I look toward the day,
When the House can commence without further DeLay…

Just how many times will Tom DeLay have the opportunity to make a mockery of the rules governing the House of Representatives before the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct delivers the smackdown he so richly deserves?

A delegation of Republican House members including Majority Leader Tom DeLay accepted an expense-paid trip to South Korea in 2001 from a registered foreign agent despite House rules that bar the acceptance of travel expenses from foreign agents, according to government documents and travel reports filed by the House members.

Justice Department documents show that the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a business-financed entity created with help from a lobbying firm headed by DeLay's former chief of staff, registered under the Foreign Agents Registration Act on Aug. 22, 2001. DeLay; his wife, Christine; and two other Republican lawmakers departed on a trip financed by the group on Aug. 25 of that year.

The three-day trip cost (at least) $106,921. DeLay’s claimed expenses were $13,000 for transportation, $330 for lodging, $150 for meals, and $20 for “other.” The expenses claimed on behalf of his wife were the same. Also, though DeLay described the trip as having an “educational” purpose:

An "illustrative schedule" dated February 2001 for the August 2001 trip lists proposed meetings with the U.S. ambassador, Korean legislators and business executives, but includes "free time for shopping, touring, golf" on each of the three days in Seoul.

It could not be determined yesterday whether the lawmakers actually followed that schedule.

As for the ethical violation:

DeLay's aides said yesterday that the congressman did not learn of the group's registration until this week. "There's no way we could have known, and they didn't inform us of the fact that their status changed," said DeLay's communications director, Dan Allen.

Nice job you’ve got there, Dan Allen—telling lies for the lyingest sonofabitch in the whole of the House. One thing, though—how about that former chief of staff of old Tommy Boy’s who help set up the group…mightn’t he have been aware of their status?

Oh, and just one more question for ya, Dan. Do you know if Rep. DeLay has ever heard the expression, Ignorance of the law is not a viable defense? Just wondering.