Kim Holland Attacker Jim Cardle Identified As Key Player In Texas House Speaker Controversy

James Cardle (left), the controversial Texas Republican implicated in a secret group that sought to defeat Oklahoma Insurance Commissioner Kim Holland in 2006, has been placed in the center of a raging controversy in which Texas House Speaker Tom Craddick is accused of illegally channeling $150,000 to fellow legislators to secure his reelection as speaker.

Prosecutors in Travis County are reviewing the complaint, which contends that Craddick illegally channeled $150,000 to Democrat legislators to boost his bid to return as House leader.

On Jan. 10, Craddick revitalized an almost dormant political committee, Texans for Jobs & Opportunity Build a Secure Future, with a $250,000 donation from his campaign account, according to public documents.

It was the only money the political committee had when it made $50,000 donations the next day to Democratic Reps. Aaron Peña of Edinburg, Kino Flores of Palmview and Kevin Bailey of Houston, according to campaign finance reports cited in a complaint filed Monday. The three are past supporters of Craddick and are facing challenges from within their party. A fourth Democrat, Dawnna Dukes of Austin, turned down the money.

Monday's complaint, filed by a campaign finance watchdog group, comes in the middle of a heated campaign against Craddick's re-election as speaker and raises questions about what has become a common practice: speakers donating campaign cash indirectly to fellow lawmakers.

Craig McDonald of Texans for Public Justice filed the complaint with Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle. It is the same group that complained to Earle four years ago about then-U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is awaiting trial on money laundering charges brought by Earle.

"Texas law is clear: You can't buy the speaker's gavel by bankrolling the campaigns of House candidates," McDonald said Monday. "Nor can you make a political contribution under someone else's name. It's hard to argue that the Texas Jobs PAC didn't launder Craddick's money. By its own accounting, it didn't have another cent to its name."

Austin lawyer Roy Minton, who represents Craddick, said McDonald's letter wrongly assumes that Craddick told the political committee which lawmakers to support. He said Craddick's $250,000 donation to the committee and that group's subsequent support of the Democrats were unrelated transactions.

"I honest to God don't think there was any kind of wink of the eye or an understanding," Minton said.

The Austin American-Statesman reported today that James ("Jim") Cardle, a key member of the political committee, is an activist associated with several conservative organizations. He did not return phone calls to comment on why the committee supported three Democrats. But it's hardly a state secret that Craddick has offset defections by Republicans with support from among a handful of Democrats.

Cardle was identified by The McCarville Report Online in 2006 as the man in charge of the secret, Austin-based group "Just The Facts America" that sought to defeat Holland through a website and series of negative television commercials.

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