Tom DeLay's Lucky Laundering Loophole

In a very odd legal twist that his lawyers plan to milk, disgraced former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay may soon find himself free of money-laundering charges. The Texas turn: In a related case, judges found that in old money-laundering cases like the one DeLay faces, the law applied only to cash—not check—transactions. DeLay's potential lucky break: His case involves a check, not cash. It may be a technicality, but associates of the Texas political powerhouse say they plan to make it stick, and then use it to assail Ronnie Earle as an out-of-control prosecutor.