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Justice DeLayed

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5/04/00 5:35 p.m.
Justice DeLayed
A witch hunt in Washington.

By Stephen F. Hayes, freelance writer

en. Ted Kennedy once said his son, Patrick, was "the best surf-caster on Cape Cod."

But the younger Kennedy, a lifelong fisherman and chief angler at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), betrayed this vast experience yesterday and went big-game fishing with worms.

At a Capitol Hill news conference, Kennedy announced a DCCC-sponsored lawsuit against House majority whip Tom DeLay, alleging, among other things, that DeLay has engaged in "extortion," "money laundering," "racketeering," and "conspiracy" to further his political agenda. The DCCC argues that DeLay's fundraising activities violate the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), designed originally to curb organized crime. The suit basically recycles allegations from a smattering of newspaper reports detailing DeLay's aggressive and creative fundraising. New "evidence" of wrongdoing is nowhere to be found.

What the allegations have in mobster-like sensational news appeal, they lack in substance. Perhaps for that reason, the Democrats' two previous attempts to draw attention to the matter have yielded no results, with even the Clinton Justice Department taking a pass.

Here's the deal: Several former DeLay aides run tax-exempt (IRS 527) organizations that are not required to report the sources or recipients of their money. Known as the Republican Majority Issues Committee, the U.S. Family Network, and Americans for Economic Growth, they appear to be legitimate, tax-exempt entities that raise and spend money to further a political agenda. The Left has several such organizations, including "Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities," an anti-defense group started by Ben Cohen (Ben from Ben & Jerry's); "Peace Voter Fund," use your imagination; and, part of the Sierra Club.

We can reasonably assume that DeLay influences both the fundraising and distribution of the funds raised by these groups, and even some fellow Republicans have expressed some concern about his tactics. But court cases aren't won on assumptions. They require evidence. And the DCCC allegations are based on inferences drawn largely from third- and fourth-person accounts of aggressive fundraising. It's not enough simply to claim "this smells fishy."

Even if the DCCC's legal trawling shows that DeLay is involved, that does not, de facto, mean he has broken the law. There is nothing new — or inherently wrong — with politicians raising money on behalf of tax-exempt organizations, and it certainly doesn't violate the RICO Act. In a bit of superior reporting, Juliet Eilperin of the Washington Post, interviewed one of the original drafters of the RICO Act, University of Michigan visiting law professor C. Robert Blakey, who said of the DCCC suit: "This is the kind of case that gives RICO a bad name. Vague allegations of political influence or pressure belong at the ballot box, and not in the judicial arena."

Common Cause devotes significant time and effort to closing what it calls the "stealth PAC loophole," which permits the operation of the organizations named in the Democrats' suit. The very fact that America's chief campaign-finance scold laments the "loophole" points to the presumed legality of the entities and their activities.

Lost on the self-proclaimed reformers, of course, is that laws beget laws, and loopholes beget loopholes. Lifting campaign-finance restrictions and requiring disclosure would end the secrecy that so upsets the DCCC.

Kennedy and the DCCC have would like to see the case get at least as far as discovery, where it's possible that the judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson (yes, same one), would order the GOP-friendly groups to open their books. Republicans would likely retaliate, and the public would be treated to charges and countercharges through November.

But Kennedy has already netted one of his goals. All this talk of RICO statutes, racketeering, and conspiracy has no doubt created some bad press for congressional Republicans.

The "prayer for relief" section of the DCCC's suit — the part of the suit in which the plaintiff makes damage requests — is aptly named in this case, for based on the lack of evidence the DCCC doesn't have one. Kennedy asks the court to order DeLay and the three organizations to stop "further violations of the law," and for good measure, to pay the DCCC "an amount equal to three-times the actual damages it has sustained and all costs incurred, including reasonable attorneys' fees, in bringing this action." In short, stop them from raising money and give us a bunch.

Jackson should act with celerity to end the allegations and the mob lingo by dismissing the case. Let it sleep with the fishes.

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