DeLay Foundation for Kids

The DeLay Foundation for Kids, a 501(c)(3), tax-exempt, nonprofit and independent corporation, was founded in 1986 by Congressman Thomas D. DeLay (D-TX) and Christine DeLay "to address children's issues including education, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, child abuse and homelessness. The Foundation has long been involved with abused and neglected children through Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)." 

"The nineteen-year-old charity, the DeLay Foundation for Kids, which operates out of a post office box near DeLay's home in Texas, has consistently declined to identify its donors, citing their desire for privacy — and by law, it is not required to do so." 

"Advocacy groups say that whatever its charitable purpose, the DeLay Foundation is also an important fundraising operation for the politician, some of whose activities are now [April 2005] being scrutinized by Congress and a state grand jury in Texas. The charity, advocacy groups add, allows corporate lobbyists and executives to curry favor with DeLay in a way that skirts campaign finance laws." 

Address
In 2004, Roll Call reported that Washington Strategies LLC was paid $67,070 in 2001 for fundraising work by Tom Delay's DeLay Foundation for Kids. Former Washington Strategies employee Craig Richardson, who has served as a top fundraiser for DeLay and former Rep. Steve Largent (R-Okla.), has also handled the foundation's fundraising. The Delay Foundation's address in Arlington corresponds with Richardson Ziebart Consulting LLC and the same address is also listed on lobbying forms. Richardson and Geoffrey Ziebart both left Washington Strategies to go work for the DCI Group.

[Cross-referenced with WP LLC article.]

Rule Reversal
"In January [2003] House Majority Leader, Tom DeLay engineered 'an abrupt reversal of rules that had prohibited lawmakers from accepting free trips and lodging in connection with charity events.' In April he raised $1.1 million from lobbyists and lawmakers at a golf tournament in Florida for The Delay Foundation for Kids." 

Greens for Greens
"The charity reaped greater funds as DeLay's career in Congress progressed. During the past five years, it has raised money primarily through golf tournaments where DeLay, 58, and other GOP House leaders have spent hours on the greens with business groups who paid large sums to participate. Last year, the foundation's tax returns declared assets of over $4 million and said that the spring golf tournament brought in $530,000," Nicholas Thompson reported in the June 12, 2005, Boston Globe.

"DeLay is not required to name his charity's supporters. But tax and online records reveal that the donors include ExxonMobil, Southern Company, and SBC. The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, created by the founder of Dell Computers, gave the DeLay Foundation $250,000 in 2003," Thompson wrote.

"Jack Abramoff, a Washington lobbyist being investigated by the Department of Justice for fraud, donated to the foundation and, according to a recent report in the National Journal, persuaded clients to do the same by telling them it was a way to get in the good graces of Tom and Christine DeLay," Thompson said.

"The ties between Abramoff and DeLay go back a long way. Since 1997, Abramoff and his wife have contributed $40,000 to DeLay's political action committees, and last year [2003] the Capital Athletic Foundation donated $25,000 to the DeLay Foundation for Kids, a charity the lawmaker founded. Abramoff has long been a member of DeLay's Congressional Council, which DeLay describes in promotional materials as a 'special group of supporters.'"

... and More Greens
In spring 1998, "an eclectic group of golfers waited to tee off at the posh Woodlands Resort and Conference Center just outside of Houston. Among the group were some 10 politicians and businessmen from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, a representative from the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana, and a wealthy businessman from Puerto Rico named Hernan Franco.

"The Marianas, the Chitimacha tribe, and a group of Puerto Rican businessmen had one thing in common: All were clients then, or shortly afterward, of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, who was a star rainmaker at Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds and a good buddy of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, who was then majority whip. As DeLay’s friend, Abramoff wanted to help boost the foundation, which DeLay and his wife, Christine, created in 1986 to assist abused and neglected children. Some of Abramoff’s clients gave as much as $25,000 to attend the event at Woodlands seven years ago.

"Moreover, as a lobbyist with multiple interests in Washington, Abramoff wanted to do more. His effort on the charity’s behalf was part of a full-court press that over the years resulted in the raising of hundreds of thousands of dollars for DeLay’s pet projects, both political and personal. 'Jack was trying to stay close and supportive of DeLay,' said a former House leadership aide. For Abramoff, getting clients to donate money to the foundation was 'a no-brainer,' the former aide said." 

"Critics say that the donations by Abramoff’s clients to the DeLay foundation show how special interests can use politician-sponsored charities to make large donations to advance their causes." 

DeLay-prison-industrial complex
Tom DeLay "took $100,000 from the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA)—a private prison company—at an August [2004] fund-raiser for his children's charity, the DeLay Foundation for Kids.

"CCA has a 20-year history of mismanagement and malfeasance and continues to lobby for a bill that would privatize up to half of the jails in the state of Texas. As one of Texas's leading politicians, and the chief architect of the behind-the-scenes campaign to redraw congressional boundaries in Texas that is now under grand jury investigation, DeLay's involvement with CCA is no accident," the Center for American Progress reported December 2, 2004.

Leadership Team
See: http://www.delayfoundation.org/leadership/ [coming soon]

Contact Info
The DeLay Foundation for Kids P.O. Box 17034 Sugarland, Texas 77496 URL: http://www.delayfoundationforkids.org Tel: (281) 634.0743 Fax: (281) 242.6739 E-mail: delayfoundation AT fortbendcounty.org

SourceWatch Resources

 * Celebrations for Children Inc.
 * prison-industrial complex
 * Republican 'culture of corruption'
 * Thomas D. DeLay's "Transgressions"
 * William P. Jarrell (WP LLC)