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Defiant DeLay, supporters respond vocally to criticism By DAVID ESPO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON — Defiance defines House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who has three lawyers, one crisis consultant with Justice Department experience and a new support group of conservative activists as he tries to survive allegations of ethical misconduct. “He is the number one enemy to the liberal syndicate,” said supporter Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, arguing that Democratic political attacks are to blame for the Texas lawmaker’s difficulties. “The assertions (against DeLay) are serious, they are ongoing,” House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland countered on Tuesday. “I think the public is not going to let this go.” Whatever the view, Republican lawmakers and their aides say that the House GOP rank and file will ultimately control DeLay’s political fate. If they decide that defending him comes at too great a political cost to themselves, they will act accordingly, whether or not he is charged with a crime, these Republicans say. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the subject. That makes the next several days a checkpoint, as Congress returns to work after a two-week break punctuated by Democratic attempts to raise DeLay’s profile and a poll indicating a drop in support back home. One fellow Texas Republican hastened to DeLay’s defense as Congress reopened for business on Tuesday. “I’m grateful for our majority leader and I’m grateful to be working with him and this rank-and-file member will stand with him,” Rep. Michael Burgess said in remarks on the House floor. Democrats intend to test the resolve of Republicans by forcing them to vote on overturning ethics committee rules they put in place this year in the wake of DeLay’s difficulties. The new rules, rammed through by the GOP, require a bipartisan vote before an investigation can be launched. DeLay drew criticism on several fronts over the recent congressional break. One organization ran a commercial criticizing him in his Houston-area district and in Washington. Another spread a small amount of money for ads across three House districts. New York Rep. Tom Reynolds, chairman of the Republican campaign committee, was one of the targets, but he dismissed the enterprise as “the antics of Democrats and their liberal groups.” ueLay arew criticism rrom tne right, as well, when The Wall Street Journal’s conservative editorial page wrote that whether he “violated the small print of House ethics or campaign-finance rules is ... largely beside the point. His real fault lies in betraying the broader set of principles that brought him into office, and which, if he continues as before, sooner or later will sweep him . » out. DeLay has been consistently aggressive in response. One lawyer, Ed Bethune, tends to ethics committee concerns. A second, Bill White, protects his interests in Texas. A third, Bobby Burchfield, functions as an outside general counsel. Barbara Comstock, a former congressional aide and Justice Department official, is involved, as well. The most recent addition to the DeLay defense effort is a looseknit group of prominent conservatives — encouraged by aides to the Texan — that intends to defend him aggressively in public and stiffen the resolve of Republican lawmakers. “We don’t view this as simply an attack on Delay. We view it as a PAT SULLIVAN/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has sometimes played defense against critics. But a review of DeLay’s statements the past several months shows he plays plenty of offense too, blaming his problems on the media, Democratic lawmakers and a Democratic prosecutor in Texas. political assault on the political leadership in Congress and on the political agenda and on conservatives, period,” said David Keene of the American Conservative Union. “If we’re a serious movement we do not allow any of our leaders to get attacked without responding.” The group intends to hold a tribute dinner for DeLay next month as a show of support, although Keene said it will not be a fundraiser. There’s plenty to keep DeLay’s defenders busy. The majority leader was slapped three times by the ethics committee last year. The panel deferred action in another area, saying it would wait until the outcome of a state investigation in Texas. There, prosecutor Ronnie Earle has indicted three associates of DeLay on campaign finance charges. The accusations stem from a political campaign that gave Texas Republicans the strength to push redistricting through the Legislature. In addition, the Indian Affairs Committee and the Justice Department are investigating activities by lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was long close to DeLay. Democrats have also leapt on recent disclosures that raised questions about DeLay’s overseas travel, some of it' paid for by organizations that Abramoff was involved with. DeLay’s office helped mount a counterattack last fall against Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., who chaired the ethics committee that came down against DeLay. Earle is depicted as a partisan prosecutor. Abramoff is described in scathing terms. Contrary to some advice, DeLay used the two-week break to raise his political profile. A leader in the effort to pass legislation designed to keep alive Terri Schiavo, a brain-damaged woman in a persistent vegetative state, he criticized the judges involved in her case in the hours following her death. “The time will come for the men responsible for this to answer for their behavior,” he said, raising the prospect of impeachment. Later, he complained of “an arrogant and out of control judiciary that thumbs its nose at Congress and the president.” Few other Republicans have gone that far in criticizing an independent branch of government. “They handled it in a fair and independent way,” Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said Monday of the judges in the case, although he added he had hoped for a different result. 1 ' 1 ■ Europe ^ Your Summer Travel Headquarters _ TRAVEL 1| ww^statrave^oml _ -J Summer's coming & that means you'll be going. You don't have to lug everything home. 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