I’m sure you will be shocked, shocked to hear that the national media have been apathetic about the revelation that Ronnie Earle is missing a key piece of evidence in his case against Tom DeLay. Although the revelation that DeLay refused to cop a plea is getting covered (in the Washington Post, for instance), the media is silent on the matter of the list of candidates, so central to the indictments, that Ronnie Earle has failed to produce (for a summary, see this post).

To understand why this is a major setback for DeLay’s prosecutors, just read the document that Earle’s team filed with the court last Thursday, which I have obtained and posted here. The following passage is particularly noteworthy:

Despite the fact that the State cannot conclusively prove that the said document is a duplicate (or copy thereof) of the [document referenced in the indictment], and because the State believes that the document is at least factually related to the above-referenced document… the State has heretofore tendered to counsel of the defendant… a photocopy of said document…

“Factually related,” huh? Does that sound like “fake but accurate” to anyone else?

The document also includes a photocopy of this so-called “factually related” list — nothing more than an Excel spreadsheet with no date and no author. Neither the number of candidates nor the dollar amount match those listed in the indictment. See for yourself.

The national news media are only interested in stories that put DeLay in a negative light. The fact that Earle’s case is falling apart just doesn’t seem to interest them.