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Chronology of events
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DeLay Indicted in Finance Probe
The House GOP leader, accused of helping get corporate funds to state candidates, declares his innocence and steps down from his post.
DELAY INDICTED
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Thursday October 06, 2005 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 2 inches; 74 words Type of Material: Correction
DeLay indictment -- An article in Thursday's Section A about the indictment of Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas) described as "illegal" the campaign contributions that Sears, Roebuck & Co. and other companies made to a political action committee formed by DeLay. The article should also have said that charges against Sears were dropped as part of an agreement with a Texas prosecutor, who found "no intent on the part of [Sears] to violate Texas law."
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Key dates leading to Rep. Tom DeLay's indictment.
* Sept. 21, 2004: Three political fundraisers with ties to DeLay are indicted by a Texas grand jury on allegations of funneling illegal corporate campaign funds to Republican candidates for state office. DeLay was not charged, and called the indictments politically motivated.
* Sept. 30, 2004: DeLay is admonished by the House ethics committee for offering in 2003 to support the son of then-Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) to succeed his father in the House of Representatives if Smith changed his mind and voted for the Medicare drug benefit bill.
* Oct. 6, 2004: The ethics committee rebukes DeLay for involving the Federal Aviation Administration in a Texas partisan matter -- tracking Democratic state legislators who fled the state on a private plane to avoid a vote on a DeLay-backed congressional redistricting plan -- and for staging a fundraising event in a way that appeared to link access to him with political donations.
* Nov. 17, 2004: House Republicans change a party rule to allow DeLay to remain majority leader if he is indicted. Under pressure, the GOP reverses course and instead changes another rule to make it easier to block congressional ethics investigations.
* March 2005: Newspaper reports raise questions about two overseas trips by DeLay that were linked to Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff, now under criminal investigation for his tactics in promoting Indian tribes' gambling interests. DeLay denied any wrongdoing.
* April 2005: House Republicans scrap controversial new ethics committee rules passed earlier in the year that would have made it harder to proceed with an ethics investigation. Democrats charged the rules were meant to protect DeLay.
* August 2005: Abramoff is indicted on six counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from his role in the 2000 purchase of SunCruz Casinos' fleet of gambling boats. He pleads not guilty.
* Sept. 13: Two political fundraisers associated with DeLay are indicted on additional felony charges of violating Texas election law and criminal conspiracy to violate election law for their role in 2002 legislative races.
* Wednesday: A Texas grand jury charges DeLay and the two political fundraisers charged earlier this month with conspiracy in a campaign finance scheme.
Graphics reporting by Richard Simon and John Jackson
Sources: Los Angeles Times, Associated Press
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\o7Serrano reported from Washington and Gold from Houston. Times staff writers Ronald Brownstein, Janet Hook and Maura Reynolds in Washington contributed to this report.
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