Edwin Buckham paid Christine DeLay

Kuff reads this story in the Chronicle. Kuff makes a couple points that are hard to minimize. I've known about former DeLay staffer Michael Scanlon. It seems Scanlon's malfeasance occurred after he worked for DeLay; that's still too close for comfort. But I learned about another former DeLay staffer today: Tony Rudy. And his malfeasance appears to have occurred while still working for DeLay.

Here are the money graphs from the Chron article:

What Rudy has said or will say to prosecutors about DeLay could prove pivotal in whether the lawmaker is cleared or gets pulled more directly into the federal investigation, said lawyers close to the case.

In court documents released in January, Rudy was described as "Staffer A," who helped Abramoff stop legislation that would have hurt his clients. One bill opposed by Indian gaming interests would have banned Internet gambling; another, opposed by magazine publishers, would have raised postal rates.

Read what Kuff has to say and hope that the worst DeLay is guilty of is poor supervision of his employees.

I seem to recall that DeLay mentioned his staffers in an eight-page campaign letter during the primary. I read that letter in context with Scanlon. I wish I still had it so I could read it again with Rudy in mind.




***Update***

March 21, 2006

This is the best I could do when searching for the text of DeLay's February campaign letter:

[Tom DeLay] said he expects his staff to "adhere to the highest legal and ethical standards." But he noted, "If they acted unethically or broke the law, they will face legal consequences."

It appears to me that DeLay is actually talking about Rudy here. I remember thinking that the verb tense was awkward if DeLay was referring to Scanlon.
DeLay seemed to be talking about a collapse of ethical standards by a person on his staff. Scanlon didn't fit that bill.

At any rate, I'd love to have a more complete quote. Does anyone still have the letter?