When Tom Met Jack

(5 of 5)

But there is one place, at least for now, where no such scrutiny is taking place: the House ethics committee. DeLay has said he would welcome a chance to explain everything to the panel, which last year admonished him three times. But Democrats have shut down the committee, saying they object to rule changes that make it impossible to open an investigation without the support of at least one member of each party. DeLay says he sees little more than a Democratic plot at work. "The only way I can be cleared is through the ethics committee, so they don't want one," DeLay told the Washington Times last week. But when the journalists asked DeLay whether he had ever crossed the line of ethical behavior, he gave an answer that could come back to haunt him. "Ever," he said, "is a very strong word." --With reporting by Perry Bacon Jr., Brian Bennett, Massimo Calabresi and John F. Dickerson/Washington