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Hotline After Dark: What You Missed Last Night

April 5, 2006 11:26 AM | |

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Tom DeLay continued his TV tour, stopping by the "Situation Room," "Special Report" and "Hardball."

Asked if he wants to be a lobbyist, DeLay: "I don't know what the future holds for me. I'm in God's hands and he guides me. And whatever I can do to help this country by leading it in a conservative direction, I'm going to do" (CNN, 4/4).

DeLay's faith was also discussed on "Hardball" and he said there are some "strong moral Democrats." When asked to name one, he said: "Barney Frank." More DeLay: "I don't agree with homosexuality, but I still -- I am commanded to love Barney Frank. I'm not going to judge him."

As to when he'll leave Congress, DeLay: "That'll depend on the congressional schedule. There are some things I'd like to clean up that are important to my district and I want to try to get that done" (MSNBC, 4/4).

On ex-staffer Tony Rudy: "When you're in a leadership office, it's a whirlwind every day. And you hire people and trust them because you've given them great responsibility to make certain decisions. And yes, it's very disappointing that that trust was misused. And obviously he pled guilty to it. But I also know that I have well over hundreds of good, strong people working for me and have done a great job -- because I had the best staff on the Hill" (FNC, 4/4). [EMILY GOODIN]


DON'T WORRY GOPERS, DEMS STILL HAVE A MESSAGE

And DeLay may be gone, but there's still plenty of corruption out there, as DNC Chair Howard Dean reminded "Situation Room" viewers. He said of DeLay's resignation: "I don't know if it is good or bad for the Democrats, but it's very good for the country. There's an awful lot of corruption, not just, of course, Tom DeLay, but Bill Frist, the leader of the Senate is under investigation for insider trading. Karl Rove still has his security clearance, despite the fact that he has leaked information for the CIA identifications in a time of war. The vice president's chief of staff is under indictment. So, this is a very deep problem, this Republican culture of corruption. But, certainly, for the country, it's a good thing that Tom DeLay has left."

DCCC Chair Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-IL) was on "Hardball" and defended Nick Lampson: "Nick Lampson, first of all, is the David that slayed Goliath. Second of all, he represented a third of that district when he had Beaumont, and he lived in the other part. And third, he's raised the resources to wage an effective campaign, and Nick Lampson has done a great job" (MSNBC, 4/4).

BUT HERE'S A TOPIC DEMS ARE AVOIDING

"Special Report" noted House Maj. Leader Nancy Pelosi's response when asked the last time she spoke to Rep. Cynthia McKinney (D-GA), Pelosi: "I don't remember" (FNC, 4/4).

And Dean wouldn't comment on McKinney: "First of all, racial profiling is a real issue. But, secondly, I have absolutely no knowledge of what happened to Congresswoman McKinney at that checkpoint. I wasn't there. I don't know any of the people involved, and I haven't talked to them. So, I have no comment on what went on when Congresswoman McKinney was going into the Capitol, since I have no knowledge of what went on" (CNN, 4/4).

GOTTA LOVE KINKY

TX GOV candidate Kinky Friedman was on "Scarborough Country" to talk about DeLay: "I think he's not a bad guy. I think he got confused. He thought his job was to attack the enemy and his job was to serve the people of Texas. And that's why I say that politics is the only field in which the more experience you have, the worse you get" (MSNBC, 4/4).

"I guess this is the appropriate time for me to share my future plans. ... After listening to my heart and my gut ... I've decided I'll be leaving Today at the of May. It was a really difficult decision. ... Sometimes I think change is a good thing although it can be terrifying to get out of your comfort zone" -- Katie Couric

"Talked about mixed emotions. ... It's hard to imagine sitting here without you."

"I know it's the worst-kept secret in America. I'm going to be working on the CBS 'Evening News' and '60 Minutes.'"

DeLay continued his media tour, stopping by the "Situation Room," "Special Report," "Hardball," ABC News, and NPR: On his departure: "It became quite obvious to me that this election was going to be a referendum on me and not the values and priorities of my constituents. It's going to be nasty. Millions of dollars would be spent by the Democrats to take this seat. I have worked my entire adult life for the Republican majority and the conservative movement, and I felt like that the best course of action would be to step aside so a Republican who -- any Republican can take this seat. And I can take my talents elsewhere and work for the conservative movement outside the House." More: "I made this decision before I even knew that Tony Rudy was going to plead guilty. Those are people that believe in the politics of personal destruction. They've been trying to destroy my reputation for 10 years. They're trying to criminalize politics. The Democrats have no agenda. They have no ideas. They have no solutions. All they have is the politics of personal destruction. There is nothing that connects me to Abramoff or any of the activities that they have. I am not a target of this investigation. I haven't even been interviewed by these investigators." He continues: "I'm not stupid. The Democrats have scrutinized my operation -- every part of my operation -- for 20 years and, most particularly, in the 11 years we've been in the majority. I would be incredibly stupid to do anything illegal, because they would find it -- even if I wanted to, and I don't. I have lawyers check every decision that I make. If I come up with an idea, we make sure it's within the spirit of the law or in the House rules. We check everything." On his trips: "Those trips were vital trips. I was working with Margaret Thatcher in building a conservative movement in England. She had asked me to come over and work with conservatives in England because they had just lost an election and they wanted my advice on how to rebuild their conservative movement. I worked very, very hard on that trip. And yes, at the end of the trip, I went and played golf. I love golf." Asked if that was a mistake: "No." Asked if he wants to be a lobbyist: "I don't know what the future holds for me. I'm in God's hands and he guides me. And whatever I can do to help this country by leading it in a conservative direction, I'm going to do" (CNN, 4/4). On the Abramoff scandal: "The Abramoff stuff, I was being tarred with the brush of guilty by association. I have nothing to do with the Abramoff affair. I've done nothing wrong. It's disappointing, and I'm very disappointed in what had went on -- but it had nothing to do with me. The Department of Justice told my lawyers I'm not a target of the investigations. I haven't talked to any investigator. I mean, it has nothing to do with me, and time will show that." On his mug shot photo: "I felt like it was the fakest smile I had ever done. But through the camera, you can see there was a glow in it." On ex-staffer Tony Rudy: "When you're in a leadership office, it's a whirlwind every day. And you hire people and trust them because you've given them great responsibility to make certain decisions. And yes, it's very disappointing that that trust was misused. And obviously he pled guilty to it. But I also know that I have well over hundreds of good, strong people working for me and have done a great job -- because I had the best staff on the Hill" (FNC, 4/4). DeLay: "It's very easy not to know. You've been around here. You worked on the Hill. You know that a leader's office is a whirlwind all day long. And you have to trust the people that work for you" ("Nightline," ABC, 4/4). DeLay: "I'm not backing from a political fight. ... I just think I can do it better from outside the House than inside the House right now" ("Morning Edition," NPR, 4/4).


So Not Sad


CNN's Henry: "There are absolutely no tears being shed here at the White House" ("Situation Room," 4/4).


Dem Response


DNC Chair Howard Dean, on DeLay's resignation: "I don't know if it is good or bad for the Democrats, but it's very good for the country. There's an awful lot of corruption, not just, of course, Tom DeLay, but Bill Frist, the leader of the Senate is under investigation for insider trading. Karl Rove still has his security clearance, despite the fact that he has leaked information for the CIA identifications in a time of war. The vice president's chief of staff is under indictment. So, this is a very deep problem, this Republican culture of corruption. But, certainly, for the country, it's a good thing that Tom DeLay has left" ("Situation Room," CNN, 4/4).


Dem strategist James Carville: "Tom DeLay's office was running the greatest criminal enterprise in the history of the United States Congress. His deputy chief of staff and communication director have already pleaded guilty. It is highly likely that his chief of staff will plead guilty. Whether this goes to DeLay or not let's let the legal system work its way through the process. But that we already know. Now, you could argue that it might help them win one seat in the Texas 22nd if everything stopped now. I don't know if that's the case. I suspect we're just at the beginning point. It is already an enormous scandal. It's got nothing to do but get bigger" ("Situation Room," CNN, 4/4).


The '06 Effect


NBC's Russert: "Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic leader, calls the culture of corruption, that's the Democratic code word. ... What she means by that is the investigation the Democrats believe will mean a lot more congressmen will be involved and congressional wives and congressional staffs. And it's going to begin to trickle out through the spring, through the summer. They hope hit in the fall. The Democrats want to make this election a national election in the midterm season of 2006. A referendum on Iraq and corruption. Iraq is out of the hands of the Washington insiders. Corruption, they believe, is front and center" ("Nightly News," 4/4).


Time's Allen: "I don't think it takes anything off the table for prosecutors. But for Republicans, it is helpful. ... As you know, this fall, any Republican in a tight race was going to have to answer the question: Do you support Tom DeLay? And he was their leader. A lot of them had respect and affection for them. A lot of them were there because of him, and so it was not an easy question for them to answer. Now they can sort of try and portray him as old news" ("NewsHour," PBS, 4/4).


CNN's Crowley: "This is going to be an election that is going to pivot on the war. So tangentially, maybe the Republicans have taken a maybe target off the stage. I can't see that in the end it's going to have a big effect beyond the Sugar Land district" ("AC 360," 4/4).


Washington Examiner's Sammon: "It's a short-term political gain for Democrats. This is their one good news cycle out of this is DeLay is out. After that it gets worse, because the fact that he's out means ... they can't use him to fundraise, they can't use them as their favorite whipping boy. Reminds me when Newt Gingrich left. It's hard to demonize someone like a Denny Hastert or a Bill Frist. It's easy to demonize a Tom DeLay or a Newt Gingrich" ("Special Report," FNC, 4/4).


Remembering The Man


Rep. Bill Thomas (R-CA): "Whenever someone leaves at a time not of their own choosing, people tend to look at the immediate surroundings and place far more emphasis on the immediate surrounds because of the way in which they leave. I think what you have to do is put Tom in, first of all, a ... frame of what he accomplished" ("Money & Politics," Bloomberg, 4/4).



McKinney: "This has become much a do about a hairdo" ("Early Show," CBS, 4/5).


CNN's Todd: "McKinney may be growing more isolated on Capitol Hill, not getting resounding support at this very crucial time from some of the people she may be counting on. ... The Congressional Black Caucus isn't exactly rushing to McKinney's side" ("Situation Room," 4/4).


"Special Report" noted House Maj. Leader Nancy Pelosi's response when asked the last time she spoke to McKinney, Pelosi: "I don't remember" (FNC, 4/4).


DNC Chair Howard Dean: "First of all, racial profiling is a real issue. But, secondly, I have absolutely no knowledge of what happened to Congresswoman McKinney at that checkpoint. I wasn't there. I don't know any of the people involved, and I haven't talked to them. So, I have no comment on what went on when Congresswoman McKinney was going into the Capitol, since I have no knowledge of what went on" ("Situation Room," CNN, 4/4).



FNC's Garrett: "Republicans are getting increasingly frustrated with the Democratic tactics. Just seconds ago on the Senate floor, Pete Domenici of New Mexico, widely-regarded as a moderate speaking Republican, mild mannered in his ways, basically shouted at Senator Reid saying he's not right. He can't stop these amendments from being voted on. Now, what this means is the deadline the Senate has set for itself to finish work on this bill by Friday is basically done with. No one I've talked to today believes this work is going to get done by Friday. The Senate then leaves for a two-week recess, raising the very real prospect this entire bill could fall apart" ("Special Report," 4/4).


CNN's Koppel: "Neither the Republicans nor the Democrats have the 60 votes that would be necessary to cut off debate and move to a floor vote" ("Lou Dobbs Tonight," 4/4).



CNN's Meserve: "Doyle has been with the Department of Homeland Security since it was formed, working first with the Transportation Security Administration, before joining the main press office. People in the press who have dealt with Brian Doyle and people in the department with whom I have spoken tonight are expressing deep shock at these allegations" ("AC 360," 4/4).


FL asst AG Brad Copley: "Right now, it stands as a state prosecution. We have fairly serious penalties for this type of crime" ("On the Record," FNC, 4/4).


Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd: "Brian Doyle began his communication with our undercover detective, who Brian believed to be a 14-year-old girl. That happened on March the 12th. He immediately identified himself as the deputy press secretary for Homeland Security and sent us photographs with his identification" ("On the Record," FNC, 4/4).

During his opening monologue, "Daily Show" host Jon Stewart was critical of McCain's decision to give the commencement at Liberty Univ. So he had McCain on via satellite to talk about it: McCain, on his commencement address: "Before I bring on my two attorneys ..." Stewart: "Don't make me love you." McCain: "The reason why I did thi was because my kids said you haven't been on Jon Stewart lately and I figured this is how I could do that." More McCain: "I'm going to invite you down because I want you sitting down next to Rev. Falwell when I do it. ... I'm sure you have a lot fans there." Stewart: "I feel it's a condoning of Falwell's crazy making, to some extent, to have you go down there. It strikes me as something you wouldn't normally do." McCain: "I'm going there to speak to the students at his invitation. I can assure you that the message will be the same as I give everywhere." Stewart: "You don't think it helps reassert Falwell as the voice for a certain group of people -- say evangelics of the Christian Right. Isn't it the kind of thing if you don't go there it helps keep marginalizing guys like that? Or do I misunderstand politics? Why do I feel I'm about to get grounded?" McCain: "Listen, I love coming on your show. Young people all over America watch it. I love to travel around the country and speak at colleges and universities. They're all parts of the Republican Party. I respect them. I may disagree with them." Stewart: "Are you going into crazy base world?" McCain: "I'm afraid so." Stewart: "When you see Falwell do you feel vomit in the back of your throat? ... What does it feel like?" McCain: "I'll give him your love" (Comedy Central, 4/4). NPR's Andrea Seabrook: "I'm actually in jury duty today and I'm sitting in the court house jury room and I got a call back from Tom DeLay and I immediately called NPR" ("Morning Edition," 4/4).