Prosecutor Won't Look Into Lobbying by Ralph Reed

A Texas prosecutor rejected a request by watchdog groups to investigate whether Christian activist Ralph Reed violated lobbying-registration laws, removing a potential headache for Reed in his campaign for lieutenant governor of Georgia.

Travis County Attorney David Escamilla cited a two-year statute of limitations on misdemeanors. Three groups in December petitioned him to investigate Reed's work on an anti-gambling campaign in 2001 and 2002. They said Reed may have violated Texas law by not registering as a lobbyist while working to close Indian casinos that would have competed with one run by a client of Jack Abramoff, his associate.

Reed's connection with Republican lobbyist Abramoff has haunted his campaign in Georgia. Abramoff, who has known Reed since the early 1980s, pleaded guilty to defrauding clients and conspiring to corrupt public officials.

"We knew from the day this came in that we would be dealing with the statute of limitations issue," Escamilla said in a telephone interview. "I would have needed grand juries and subpoenas and found it hard to justify the cost when there would have been a question about going forward."

Reed spokeswoman Lisa Baron said he was hired to encourage opposition to the casinos among citizens in the state, not to lobby Texas officials. "This politically motivated complaint by far-left groups had no basis in fact, and we are pleased it is concluded," she said.

Craig McDonald, director of Texans for Public Justice, one of the petitioning groups, said evidence such as e-mails sent by Reed suggest wrongdoing. "Given the prosecutor's conclusion that the statute of limitations for such a crime grants Mr. Reed a walk, we reluctantly leave final judgment in this matter to higher powers," McDonald said in a statement.