In addition to making public for the first time that Ronnie Earle offered Tom DeLay a plea deal that DeLay rejected, DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin filed four motions today in order to stop Earle’s investigation in its tracks. The motions, which I have obtained, are as follows:

1. Motion for a speedy trial. DeLay wants to get this over with so that he does not lose his leadership post. See Jonathan Weisman’s Washington Post article about what DeLay’s indictment has done for the GOP in the House (encouraged them to return to their conservative roots — the silver lining of this episode).

2. Motion to dismiss the first indictment against DeLay — a charge of conspiracy to circumvent the Texas Election Code. It is being challenged because the conspiracy law did not apply to the election code in 2002.

3. Motion to dismiss the second indictment against DeLay — a charge of money laundering. This motion simply argues that there is no way the money-laundering statute — written to apply to the cash transactions of drug dealers — was meant to apply to campaign finance. Also, the motion shows how the transaction fails to constitute money laundering because at no time could the money in question be considered the “proceeds of criminal activity.”

4. Motion to sever DeLay’s trial from his co-defendants, John Colyandro and John Ellis. This is because DeLay wants a speedy trial, whereas Colyandro and Ellis are willing to wait it out as they battle Earle’s phony evidence in the appeals court.

Any reasonable judge should throw Earle’s case out, but this is super-liberal Travis County (Austin) we’re dealing with, so who knows? But ultimately, I’m sticking by my prediction that it will get thrown out eventually.

Meanwhile, a buddy of mine from Austin writes:

Hey Stephen,
Don