One side note to the Tom DeLay resignation story that didn't get much attention last week was the fact that DeLay was poised to step down for quite a while, but had to pretend to be interested in keeping his seat, in part for financial reasons.

An additional impetus for putting off the resignation until now was suggested by John Feehery, a former aide to DeLay and House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). "He needed to raise money for the defense fund. That was the bottom line," Feehery said. "He wanted to make sure he could take care of himself in the court of law."

In other words, DeLay was raising money from suckers supporters under false pretenses. He asked contributors for financial support, telling them that he needed the money to help with his campaign, when in reality, DeLay knew he'd have to resign and he wanted the donations for his legal defense. DeLay's con is legal, but obviously dishonest. With this in mind, it's not terribly surprising that some of these donors would like their money back. One lobbyist said it's "nauseating to think about" his campaign contribution going to subsidize DeLay's legal team. "That all this money will go to the legal defense fund, it sickens me," he added. "I have to pay for that?" Apparently so. As K Street lobbyists should realize by now, sometimes, when you lay with dogs, you get fleas.

-- posted by Steve Benen-The CarpetBagger Report