DeLay and Exxon

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Monika Bauerlein,
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Somehow, for some reason, it always comes back to Exxon, doesn’t it? Here’s Newsday:

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay owns stock worth more than $50,000 in ExxonMobil, according to financial disclosure reports, while at the same time he is one of the driving forces behind legislation that would shield that company and other manufacturers of the gasoline additive MTBE from lawsuits that could cost them millions.

Already under fire for alleged ethical lapses, DeLay, a Texas Republican, has hired the Houston law firm Bracewell and Giuliani to defend against those charges. But the firm, in which former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is a partner, also represents a host of MTBE manufacturers in court and in Congress.

My colleague Erik has written about the MTBE liability legislation here. This latest story certainly adds an ugly twist. Granted, as far as scandals go, it’s not the most amount of money ever, but as the Carpetbagger Report comments, it certainly “feeds the perception that DeLay thinks he can get away with anything.”