WASHINGTON, 8 April 2005 — Congressman Tom DeLay, the House Majority leader in Congress, has become a lightening rod for criticism of abusing his position.

Foreign trips taken by the Texas Republican have come under intense scrutiny lately. Last month media attention focused on a $70,000 December trip he took to England and Scotland in 2000, which papers said was indirectly financed in part by an Indian tribe and a gambling services company. A few days later, the media made public a $106,921 trip DeLay took to South Korea in 2001 that was financed by a tax-exempt group created by a lobbyist on behalf of a Korean businessman.

Media reports also note that in 1997 DeLay traveled to Russia in a trip that was paid by business interests lobbying in support of the Russian government.

DeLay declared the trip was sponsored by a Washington-based nonprofit organization. But interviews with those involved in planning DeLay’s trip say the expenses were covered by a mysterious company registered in the Bahamas, that also paid for an intensive $440,000 lobbying campaign.

The all-expense paid trip by Delay and four of his staff members cost $57,238, according to records filed by his office. During his six days in Moscow, he “played golf, met with Russian church leaders and talked to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, a friend of Russian oil and gas executives associated with the lobbying effort,” reports the Washington Post.

All three of the foreign trips share a common denominator: They were all sponsored by the Washington-based National Center for Public Policy Research, a conservative group that solicits corporate, foundation and individual donations. It has acknowledged that it received large contributions from clients of one of Washington’s most powerful Republican lobbyists, Jack Abramoff, around the time of DeLay’s foreign travels.

The American Foreign Policy Council, a nonprofit research group that monitors efforts in Russia to reform its political system and privatize state-owned businesses, reported that the 1997 trip to Russia was financed by Chelsea Commercial Enterprises, an organization based in the Bahamas that, according to the New York Times, is managed by executives in Moscow and by a Russian oil company. Lobbying records show that Chelsea had retained Abramoff as a Washington lobbyist through Presto Gates & Ellis, a law firm he worked with from 1995 to 2000.

The reports have infuriated DeLay, who dismissed criticism of his trips and close ties to lobbyists as the product of a conspiracy to “destroy the conservative movement” by attacking its leaders, such as himself.

“This is a huge, nationwide, concerted effort to destroy everything we believe in,” DeLay recently told supporters at the Family Research Council, a conservative Christian group.

Unfortunately for DeLay, this is not the end of these troubles. On Wednesday, the New York Times lead front page story focused on DeLay’s wife and daughter, who have been paid over $500,000 since 2001 by DeLay’s political action group, according to a disclosure statement filed with the Federal Election Commission and separate fund-raising records in Texas.

His wife, Christie DeLay, and his daughter, Dai DeLay Ferro, have received most of the payments. According to the disclosure forms, these payments were described as “fund-raising fees,” “campaign management,” or “payroll.” No additional details were provided regarding their specific tasks that enabled them to earn their salaries.

DeLay’s national political action committee, Americans for a Republican Majority, or Armpac, released a statement on Tuesday saying the two women had provided valuable services to the committee in exchange for payments: “Mrs. DeLay provides big picture, long-term strategic guidance and helps with personnel decisions. Ms. Ferro is a skilled and experienced professional event planner who assists Armpac in arranging and scheduling individual events.”

The latest monthly disclosure statement filed by Armpac show that Mrs. DeLay and their daughter continue to be paid. Last month, Mrs. DeLay was paid $4,028, and Mrs. Ferro received $3,681.

Earlier statements note that the two women have received similar monthly fees from the political action committee throughout 2003 and 2004.