Ronnie Earle's Partisan Record

Not surprisingly--in fact, completely predictably--Repubs are claiming that Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle has indicted Tom DeLay as part of a partisan witch hunt. Well, Earle is a Democrat. But what's his partisan history? Media Matters has been keeping track and has posted the following fact several times over the last little while:

But a March 17 editorial in the Houston Chronicle noted: "During his long tenure, Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle has prosecuted many more Democratic officials than Republicans. The record does not support allegations that Earle is prone to partisan witch hunts."

This assertion supports Earle's own claim about his record. From a March 6 article in the El Paso Times: "Earle says local prosecution is fundamental and points out that 11 of the 15 politicians he has prosecuted over the years were Democrats."

That's right, Texas has dirty politicians of all stripes, and if Earle didn't let the fact that they were in the same party as him stop him from going after them, there's no reason to expect that DeLay's membership in the opposite party would make him railroad the speaker. It's far easier to claim partisanship than to actually address the charges in the indictment itself.