Data On Ronnie Earle

I've avoided blogging about the DeLay indictments because, to be honest, the whole thing seems like a non-issue to me. Either the charges are bogus and DeLay will be exonerated or the charges are real and we will have learned that a politician did something dishonest--I'm sure you will be as shocked as I am. I suppose there is a 3rd possibility that DeLay is innocent but the trial will somehow be fixed, but I'm going to trust the legal system for now.

That being said, I noticed something interesting about the prosecutor, Ronnie Earle, at the end of a grapevine piece by Brit Hume.

What's more, an assistant Austin DA tells filmmakers that Earle single-handedly pushed the DeLay investigation over his colleagues' objections, telling his staff "just keep hacking at it." One critic says Earle doesn't distinguish between what's illegal and what he thinks is wrong, saying, "you say...'Is that against the law?' He will say it's wrong. You say, 'Well, OK... Where is it that it is against the law?'"

This insight seems to me to feel right, without knowing any of the particulars of the case. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that DeLay did something questionable, but not illegal. And it also gives motive to Earle beyond the "he has it out for Republicans" mantra that you read about from conservatives.