Study: DeLay legal defense fund raised almost $1 million last year

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay’s legal defense fund raised almost a million dollars through the end of 2004, according to a new study from Public Citizen.

More than $250,000 of the 4-year-old fund’s $999,000 was raised in the last quarter of 2004. Nearly two-thirds of that money came from members of Congress or their political action committees, according to the study.

“We find it unseemly to be raising $170,000 from members of Congress in the couple of months while they are waiting on committee assignments, which DeLay basically controls,” said Conor Kenny of Public Citizen.

DeLay spokesman Dan Allen dismissed the report as partisan hackery.

“Any level-minded individual looking at this would understand that this shows that Congressman DeLay enjoys strong support from the conference because they understand a lot of these partisan allegations being flung at him are coming from Democrats as well as their allies,” he said.

Mark H. Rodeffer