November 3, 2010 - 4:01 PM

http://www.canadianbusiness.com/markets/market_news/article.jsp?content=D9J8RV8G1

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - Former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay remained confident he would prevail at his money laundering trial, telling reporters on Wednesday he believes prosecutors have yet to present any evidence that he did anything that broke the law.

DeLay, the once powerful but polarizing lawmaker, is accused of using his political action committee to illegally funnel $190,000 in corporate donations into Texas legislative races eight years ago. DeLay has denied any wrongdoing and says no corporate money went to Texas candidates.

The six witnesses that prosecutors have presented to jurors since testimony began Monday have detailed how the PAC was run, how it raised money and DeLay's role in its operation.

Prosecutors have implied that DeLay was the driving force behind the political group. But ex-PAC workers, including DeLay's daughter, told jurors DeLay had little involvement in running the group. No witness has directly tied DeLay to the alleged scheme.

"It's politics. It's nothing criminal about it," DeLay told reporters, referencing what the PAC did.

The presentation of evidence has been methodical and driven by documents, and testimony has often gone into great detail about the country's political process, including fundraising and the role of lobbyists.

In questioning DeLay's daughter, Danielle DeLay Garcia, who worked as an event planner for the PAC, prosecutors highlighted some of the corporate donations DeLay's PAC received.

DeLay's lawyers have said the Texas PAC can legally get corporate money but it can't send it to candidates, which they say didn't happen.

"Money is the lifeblood of politics isn't it?" Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's attorney, asked Garcia earlier Wednesday. "That's just politics isn't it?"

DeLay is charged with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering. If convicted, he could face up to life in prison.

Prosecutors allege DeLay and two associates — Jim Ellis and John Colyandro — illegally channeled the corporate money, which had been collected by DeLay's Texas PAC, through the Washington-based Republican National Committee. Under Texas law, corporate money cannot be directly used for political campaigns.

The money helped Republicans take control of the Texas House in 2002, prosecutors said. That majority allowed the GOP to push through a congressional redistricting plan engineered by DeLay that sent more Texas Republicans to Congress in 2004 and strengthened DeLay's political stature, prosecutors said.