House majority leader faces questions about fund raising for political committee he founded in Texas

WASHINGTON -- Fund-raisers for a political committee founded by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay routinely solicited donations by identifying legislative actions that prospective givers wanted, from video gambling to lawsuit limits, memos show.\n"What companies that you know of would be interested in tort reform in Texas with asbestos problems that might support TRMPAC?" one DeLay fund-raiser wrote in a memo prospecting for donors to the Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee (TRMPAC).\nThat memo elicited an answer identifying several large companies and interest groups nationwide interested in lawsuit-limiting legislation in Congress and Texas, the documents show.\nThe fund-raisers also discussed using DeLay himself to make calls to round up some of the bigger donations, and they referred to the delivery of at least two checks they collected directly to the House majority leader.\n"Create a top-10 list of givers and let me call them to ask for large contribution," DeLay fund-raiser Warren RoBold wrote in August 2002. "I would then decide from response who Tom DeLay and others should call."\nOther TRMPAC fund-raising memos mention that Texas racetrack owners needed state permission for video gambling, that banks wanted new Texas home-lending rules and that energy firms wanted less regulation.\nFederal law and congressional ethics rules prohibit government officials from connecting political donations to their official actions. DeLay was admonished last year by the House's ethics committee for creating the appearance of connecting energy industry donations with federal legislation.\nDeLay spokesman Dan Allen said Monday, "These memos already have been covered in the press and the conclusions being reached are speculative and unsubstantiated. The contention being pushed is unfairly vague."\nDeLay has said that although he founded the Texas political action committee and advised it, he is not involved in its day-to-day operations. A Democratic Texas prosecutor has indicted three former DeLay aides on charges related to TRMPAC's receipt and use of corporate contributions.\nThe documents reviewed by The Associated Press were made public through a civil lawsuit and by the House ethics committee. They provide a window into how the Texas group studied policy and legislative issues as it targeted possible donors.\nIn 2002, a fund-raiser's handwritten note appears alongside the name of a Texas racetrack owner who -- along with other state track operators -- wanted state permission to begin offering video gambling at the tracks.\n"Brings $1 billion. Polls 83 percent in favor," the fund-raiser's note said.\nWeeks after that visit to the company's chief executive, track owner Maxxam Inc. contributed $5,000 to Texans for a Republican Majority.\nIn another exchange of e-mails, RoBold asked Drew Maloney, a lobbyist and former DeLay aide, for a list of companies and organizations interested in limiting damage awards, especially firms with asbestos liability problems.\n"I would say Dow Chemical (they have a big asbestos problem), other cos. with asbestos problems including ... Owens Illinois ... Halliburton I believe too," Maloney responded.\n"Other general supporters of tort reform in TX would be AMA, doctors groups, hospitals," Maloney wrote.\nTRMPAC contribution reports do not list donations from these companies. An organization of nursing home providers, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, was TRMPAC's largest contributor at $100,000.\nMaloney did not return several calls seeking comment.