Ruling: Delay's PAC owes $200,000 to Dems.

Texas judge rules PAC formed by DeLay broke finance laws in 2002
$200,000 verdict: The House majority leader was not named in the case, but it may be seen as a victory for his critics
By Anne E. Kornblut
The New York Times

WASHINGTON - A Texas judge ruled on Thursday that the treasurer of a political action committee formed by U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, the House majority leader, broke campaign finance laws as the group propelled the party into power in the Texas House in 2002.
The judgment awarded nearly $200,000 to five Democrats who were ousted by Republican candidates backed by Texans for a Republican Majority, the political committee founded by DeLay to help win control of the Legislature.
DeLay was not named in the case, and he has maintained he did not play a role in how the group's money was raised and spent.
But the decision was a symbolic victory for DeLay's critics, lending credence to accusations that his allies used illegal campaign finance tactics to win a Republican majority in the state for the first time in 130 years.
The judgment also reignited passions on both sides of the mounting controversy over DeLay, whose ties to a powerful Washington lobbyist under investigation and several indicted political operatives have drawn negative attention for months. While Democrats said the decision was a first step toward the eventual downfall of DeLay, a legal adviser to the congressman dismissed it as a ruling on a technical matter that made no reference to his client.

''The decision doesn't mention Tom DeLay, which confirmsthat he really has no involvement in - and has never had any involvement in - that particular litigation,'' Bobby Burchfield, his lawyer, said. ''The implications are, I would think, fairly limited.''
In a letter to lawyers summarizing his decision, the judge, Joseph H. Hart, concluded that Bill Ceverha, treasurer of the committee, had failed to report $532,333 in corporate donations that were spent on campaign activities rather than for administrative purposes.
Under Texas law, as under federal law, corporate campaign donations are forbidden. Companies may help pay the administrative costs of certain political groups, but they cannot make contributions that help finance the campaigns themselves, as Hart said companies did in the case.

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