On Thursday, October 20, 2005, former House of Representatives majority leader Tom DeLay turned himself in to the bonding department of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office in Houston, one day after an arrest warrant was issued. He was fingerprinted, photographed, and then released after posting $10,000 bond. Prosecutor Ronnie Earle, a political adversary of DeLay’s, had charged the representative with money-laundering and conspiracy charges in connection with violations of campaign finance law in Texas. After a grand jury returned an indictment of DeLay and two associates on October 3rd, 2005, two weeks passed before the arrest warrant was issued on October 19th. DeLay was forced to resign his post as majority leader because of House of Representatives regulations.
In 2006, DeLay resigned his seat in the House of Representatives under pressure from fellow Republicans. DeLay had long been a controversial figure for his strict enforcement of party-line votes; his leadership of the K Street Project, an effort to pressure lobbying firms to hire only Republican Party members; and his association with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff. As of 2008, the charges against DeLay have not been brought to trial. The charge of conspiracy to violate the election code has been dropped, but the charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering remain active.
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