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DeLay Booked in Houston on Money-Laundering, Conspiracy Charges
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DeLay is scheduled to appear in court on Friday morning, where he is supposed to enter a plea and his attorneys intend to press for his trial to be shifted away from this relatively liberal Texas community. They also are going to ask the judge, an elected Democrat, to recuse himself, on grounds that he contributed to organizations hostile to DeLay.
DeLay's appearance at the sheriff's office at 12:15 p.m. appeared to be carefully orchestrated by his attorneys to elude direct observation by reporters. It was over in half an hour, after he posted a $10,000 bond. The sheriff's office promptly released his mug shot, which showed a grinning politician in a gray suit and red tie, wearing the small lapel pin used to identify members of Congress.
DeLay was driven to the booking directly from Houston airport, where he had arrived in a private jet with two security guards provided by the U.S. Capitol Hill Police. A third police officer had arrived in Houston the previous evening. Kevin Madden, DeLay's spokesman in Washington, said he did not immediately know whose jet it was.
Ordinarily, such police escorts are given only to House leaders, a rank that DeLay relinquished after being indicted in separate charges on Sept. 28 and Oct. 3. But Madden said the police had made a "threat-based assessment" that DeLay still warranted such protection only a few weeks after resigning his post.
Sgt. Jessica Gissubel, a spokeswoman for the Capitol Police, confirmed that DeLay has kept his security detail on the recommendation of the police chief, but added that she was unaware of any specific threat against the congressman.
Sheriff's Deputy Lisa Martinez in Houston said she did not witness the booking procedure for DeLay, but that in all such cases, the accused are taken into a secure area without their lawyers, photographed and then fingerprinted by an inkless machine.
In a telephone interview, DeLay's lead attorney, Dick DeGuerin, said he had arranged for the booking to be conducted in Houston after being informed by the sheriff in DeLay's home county of Fort Bend that there were about "30 news trucks out there. I didn't want there to be this media blitz."
Staff writer Amy Goldstein and research editor Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report. Lee reported from Washington.
