Texans for a Republican Majority or TRMPAC (pronounced "trimpac") is a general-purpose political action committee registered with the

Texas Ethics Commission The Texas Ethics Commission was established in 1991 to "provide guidance on various public ethics laws" within the state of Texas. The agency is headquartered on the 10th Floor of the Sam Houston State Office Building at 201 East 14th Street in Dow ...

. It was founded in 2001 by former

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

U.S. Rep. The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

and

House Majority Leader Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are e ...

Tom DeLay.

History

TRMPAC was founded on September 5, 2001, with the goal of naming a Republican Speaker in Texas and promoting the Republican party's agenda within the state. John Colyandro was selected by Jim Ellis and Tom DeLay (R-Texas) to be executive director. Colyandro selected

Dallas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County ...

businessman Bill Ceverha as treasurer.

Lawsuit

A lawsuit brought against TRMPAC and Bill Ceverha as Treasurer brought by five Democratic candidates resulted in a court order to pay $196,600 in damages and attorney fees. Ceverha later stated that the case had cost him in excess of $850,000. Ceverha subsequently filed for bankruptcy. The case against the other two parties named in the suit, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis has been stayed pending the outcome of criminal charges against them. Ceverha was later criticized for refusing to reveal the amount of a gift received from GOP donor Bob Perry despite holding a state post requiring a description of gifts under the state ethics laws. Ceverha claimed that the disclosure law was satisfied by describing the gift as 'check'.

Indictments

Currently, several key members, lobbyists and officials associated with the organization are under indictment by a

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a p ...

for felony violations of state campaign finance laws such as applying corporate campaign contributions (which may be used only for administrative expenses) to political campaigns. In September 2002, TRMPAC donated $190,000 to the

Republican National Committee The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in ...

, which within days sent $190,000 raised from individuals to seven GOP House candidates. James W. Ellis, the committee's director, has been

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

for

money laundering Money laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money, obtained from illicit activities such as drug trafficking, corruption, embezzlement or gambling, by converting it into a legitimate source. It is a crime in many jurisdicti ...

in connection with this investigation. In addition,

Americans for a Republican Majority Americans for a Republican Majority (also ARMPAC) was a political action committee formed by former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay and directed by Karl Gallant. On July 7, 2006 ARMPAC reached an agreement with the Federal Election Com ...

head Jim Ellis and John Colyandro, former executive director of Texans for a Republican Majority, were both charged in September 2005 with violating Texas election law and criminal conspiracy to violate the election law. Preston, Gates, Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, reportedly lobbied for at least one donor to Texans for a Republican Majority, and also contributed $25,000 to TRM itself. It has been reported that former DeLay aide

Michael Scanlon Michael Scanlon (also known as Sean Scanlon) is a former communications director for Rep. Tom DeLay, lobbyist, and public relations executive who has pleaded guilty to corruption charges related to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal. He is curr ...

worked on the Preston Gates account for the firm making the donation, Burlington Northern.

Warren Robold A warren is a network of wild rodent or lagomorph, typically rabbit burrows. Domestic warrens are artificial, enclosed establishment of animal husbandry dedicated to the raising of rabbits for meat and fur. The term evolved from the medieval Angl ...

, a national Republican fundraiser who solicited money for TRMPAC from several of the indicted corporations, faced nine third-degree felony charges of 'making and accepting' prohibited corporate contributions. Under Texas law, corporate donations may be used in state campaigns for administrative costs such as clerical needs or rent, but not for any purpose that might be used to influence voters.

Films

*2006 - '' The Big Buy: Tom DeLay's Stolen Congress''. Directed by Mark Birnbaum and Jim Schermbeck.

References

External links