Congressman Steve King says he voted to get rid of rules that require the removal of republican leaders in congress if they’re indicted. Three aides to current republican leader Tom Delay have been indicted over campaign contributions and Delay may soon face a similar fate. King, a republican from western Iowa, says it’s all a partisan plan to get rid of Delay. King says a county attorney in Texas who’s prosecuting the scandal has a “long reputation” for doing partisan dirty work.Old House rules said any congressional leader who’s indicted must immediately be removed from office. King says that had to be changed. “In this country, we operate on the premise that you’re innocent until you’re proven guilty,” King says. King says if the rule had stood, any county attorney anywhere in America could have indicted the House Speaker or House Republican Leader and immediately removed them from office. King says when a leader is indicted, though, a special panel will meet immediately in secret to determine whether the charges are serious enough to merit removal. The out-going chairman of the Democratic National Committee has called on the House Ethics Committee to investigate Delay’s fundraising tactics “so the American people can find out who the Republicans in Washington are really working for.”
