| “A Democratic [state
House] member was called in to look at the tape,”
said Bob Richter, spokesman for Craddick. “He
identified one of the people — they’re calling
him ‘front right’ in the video. Gerry Hebert
is ‘front left.’”
Texas officials close to the investigation
say the man identified as “front right”
is Jector Nieto, a congressional employee of Frost’s.
The Hill reported last week that Hebert, a redistricting
attorney for Texas Democrats, was also identified as
a participant in the alleged theft.
Frost’s office has again dismissed
the theft charges.
“Based on the various Republican
stories we’re hearing, the accusation that anything
was stolen is a ridiculous one,” said Tom Eisenhauer,
a senior aide to Frost. “It’s no secret
that Jector was in Austin and attended the redistricting
hearing, along with a lot of other Republican and Democratic
staff. He may have even walked down some hallways,”
he said.
Last week, Eisenhauer told The Hill that
the map “came from a Democratic source in Austin.”
He said no Frost employee was involved in the incident.
Nieto did not return calls seeking comment.
He is listed as a district field representative for
Frost. House records show the congressman has employed
Nieto since May 1, 2002.
“We’ve got a continuing Republican
conspiracy theory in an effort to divert attention from
Tom DeLay’s [R-Texas] secret redistricting plan,”
Eisenhauer added.
The House Majority Leader is taking an
active role in the Texas redistricting process.
Eisenhauer directed The Hill to an article
in which a Texas DPS spokeswoman said that a “video
from the committee room … doesn’t really
show anything.”
But Texas Republicans say the evidence
that supports their theft claim is a videotape from
a security camera in the hall outside of the committee
room.
Those who have viewed the tape say that
three men — Hebert, Nieto and an as-yet-unidentified
person — are seen carrying materials from the
hearing room. Sims has positively identified some of
those materials as his own, they say.
“As we were watching the videos,
[Sims] said: ‘That’s my stuff,’”
said Richter. “There were a couple of giveaways
— the rolled-up maps, the paperwork, the leather
folio and a state of Texas directory. He said everything
[being carried on the video] was arranged just as it
was on the desk” in the hearing room.
Richter said Sims intends to pursue the
case as a criminal matter.
“It’s like you left your lunch
on a park bench and came back and someone had taken
it. You’d be pissed,” he said. “This
was theft, pure and simple. There’s no intention
to let this fade away.”
Tela Mange, a DPS spokeswoman in Austin,
said the matter is still under investigation. “We
haven’t pressed charges against anyone at this
point,” she said.
Mange declined to confirm the identities
of the suspects.
The threats and taunts that have erupted
from the alleged theft illustrate the acrimony that
surrounds the redistricting issue in Texas.
After the state Legislature failed to
reach consensus on new congressional district lines
in 2000, it was deferred to a three-judge panel, which
decided to leave the previous map largely in place.
But Republicans claim those lines do not adequately
reflect current GOP strength in Texas or the state’s
influx of Hispanics during the last decade.
In an opinion issued Friday, Texas Attorney
General Greg Abbott (R) determined that congressional
redistricting may move forward in the state Legislature.
“Texas legislators are entirely
free to replace the court-ordered plan,” he wrote,
and “legislators should not flinch from their
constitutional duty to enter the ‘political thicket’
of redistricting.”
After Abbot’s ruling, Republicans
huddled to discuss the feasibility of drawing a new
congressional map. “We’re having some serious
meetings that will determine the course of this thing,”
said Jim Ellis last week. Ellis heads up DeLay’s
leadership PAC.
Although the Texas House would likely
approve a yet-to-be-determined map, its prospects in
the state Senate remain problematic because of a virtually
sacrosanct parliamentary procedure that requires two-thirds
support. Republicans hold a 19-12 majority in that chamber
but would need to woo at least two Democrats —
likely minorities — to achieve passage.
“Obviously, we need to get some
[Senate] Democrats,” said Ellis. “We definitely
will have a majority, but the question is whether we
can get to 21 [votes]. It’s going to be close,
that’s for sure,” he added.
The Republican strategy is to increase
the number of minority districts while collapsing or
diluting those districts currently represented by white
Democrats.
Although the dozen or so maps now under
consideration have not been made public, Democrats charge
that the GOP is attempting to decrease the number of
minority districts. |
