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Tory MSP Brian Monteith, Thatcher implicated in DeLay Scandal |
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http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
October 4, 2005 -- DeLay scandal goes international. A Texas Grand Jury
has brought two more indictments against Rep. Tom DeLay, in addition to
an earlier criminal conspiracy indictment. The latest two indictments
are for money laundering. GOP apologists for DeLay contend that Travis
County District Attorney Ronnie Earle is a Democratic activist bent on
a vendetta against DeLay. They have no comment on the fact that it was
two separate 12-member Grand Jury that brought the three indictments
against DeLay.
However, what throws cold water on the entire GOP spin strategy is the
fact that the U.S. Department of Justice is participating in a criminal
probe of DeLay for his political fundraising activities in Great
Britain, an investigation that includes DeLay's May 2000 meeting in
London with Lady Margaret Thatcher, the former Tory Prime Minister.
The investigation involves DeLay's possible support for legislation in
return for free trips abroad, including a May 2000 golf trip to St.
Andrews, Scotland. DeLay's May 2000 meeting in St. Andrews with
Scottish Tory Member of Parliament Brian Monteith and other Scottish
Tory leaders are also being investigated. Monteith is an acquaintance
of indicted GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff. A leaked British Home Office
document states that the U.S. Justice Department requested the Home
Office's assistance in a criminal probe "involving high-profile
American and UK-based individuals, including a leading congressman and
former prime minister Margaret Thatcher."
INDICTED AGAIN!
In August 2004, Thatcher's son, Sir Mark Thatcher, was placed under
house arrest by South African police for his involvement in a plot to
overthrow the government of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea in a coup d'etat
that involved British, Angolan, and South African mercenaries and
British, Lebanese, and American financial backers. The Boeing 727-100
used to fly the mercenaries to Equatorial Guinea via Zimbabwe (where it
was impounded) was bought from Dodson Aviation, an Ottawa, Kansas
company, just a few weeks prior to the planned coup. One of the largest
investors in Equatorial Guinea's oil industry is Dallas-based Triton
Energy, a firm that is close to George W. Bush. It has been a
significant contributor to the Republican National Committee.
Margaret Thatcher's reported involvement in DeLayGate opens a whole new
chapter on DeLay's activities. Thatcher was nabbed by South African
police in Cape Town prior to his
fleeing to Texas. His Texas-born wife Diane Burgdorf Thatcher, the
conservative daughter of a Dallas millionaire care dealer, and their
two children had already left South Africa for Texas. Thatcher had been
under investigation by a special South African anti-corruption squad,
code named the "Scorpions," since 1995. In 1994, Thatcher fled Texas
for South Africa after he was charged with racketeering in a $6 million
civil action. In January 2005, Thatcher pleaded guilty to violating
South Africa's anti-mercenary laws and was fined $505,000 and allowed
to leave for Britain. The United States denied Thatcher a visa to join
his family in Texas. Last month, the couple announced that they were
divorcing due to an "irretrievable breakdown."
Sir Mark Thatcher has long standing business and political ties to GOP in Texas
***
It is doubtful that the Justice Department, under Republican Alberto
Gonzales, would participate with Earle in a criminal probe of the
former House Majority Leader if there was not a criminal predicate for
such an investigation.
It is also commonplace for Federal and state prosecutors to share
information when their investigations are targeting the same individual
or group of individuals. The Justice Department probe of DeLay involves
the possible laundering of money from Britain to DeLay's Republican
political action committees (PACs). Those same PACs are part of Earle's
probe of the illegal laundering of corporate money through the
Republican National Committee.
The DeLay probe now includes prosecutors and investigators from the
Travis County District Attorney's Office, the U.S. Justice Department,
the British Home Office, the London Metropolitan Police, and the
Scottish Police Services. GOP charges that the investigation is a
Democratic plot are laughable and inane.
In addition to state charges, DeLay also faces possible criminal
charges in relation to his dealings with convicted GOP lobbyist Jack
Abramoff as well as the latest revelations about laundering political
campaign money from Britain. If convicted on the Texas money laundering
charges alone, DeLay faces up to life in prison. |
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