CNN Lou Dobbs Tonight-Transcript
PILGRIM: Tom DeLay, the former House majority leader, has seen his share of political battles. And his advice to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has been to fight.
Well, his new book is titled "No Retreat, No Surrender". He joins me now.
Thanks for being with us, sir.
TOM DELAY, FORMER HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER: Glad to be with you.
PILGRIM: You know, we just gave the title of your book, "No Retreat, No Surrender". Yet, I you resigned from Congress less than a year ago, withdrew your reelection bid. Is that a bit of a contradiction from your book title?
DELAY: Not at all. I understood that even if I got reelected, I would be relegated to a rank and file member. And I wouldn't be able to accomplish the things that I've accomplished outside.
And I've already proven in this very short period of time that I can provide some leadership for the conservative cause in support of Israel. So I've been proven right. I can do more in a different arena. And that's what I'm doing.
PILGRIM: Let's talk about your book a bit. This book is deeply personal. A lot of personal stories. But you have also discussed some very revealing behavior.
So let's bring this quote up. And I'll read it for the benefit of our viewers. "I was busy then during my first months in Congress, but unfortunately not too busy to continue my partying. I drank and drank heavily, knocking down my usual dozen martinis during an evening revelry. There were also women and the same self-centered, pleasure- seeking ways that I had begun in the Texas House."
You were a driving force, sir, behind President Clinton's impeachment. Some have suggested this is highly hypothetical. You have you been criticizing President Clinton's behavior.
DELAY: You failed to point out that that was over 20 years ago. It was seven years before the impeachment of Bill Clinton. I found Christ, changed my attitude and changed who I was, focused on my family, and I became a different person.
And yes, I thought it was very important for the Congress to take its responsibility and hold a president that had perjured himself before a grand jury and hold him responsible for it. And we did that.
PILGRIM: Let's talk about some of the other accusations in your book. You have accused Democrats of, quote, "politics of personal destruction in their effort to remove you from power."
But you really do not offer apologies on the allegations of corruption against you, the numerous House Ethics Committee admonishments, your ties to the Jack Abramoff issue and campaign finance related charges. Do you think that in any way you hold responsibility?
DELAY: Well, you really shouldn't play their game. First of all, I haven't been found guilty of anything. And all the ethics charges, and there's been many of them over the last 11 years, have been dismissed as frivolous. I had a repo suit. It was dismissed as frivolous.
Admonishments are not sanctions for violating House rules. And the media uses them as if I should go to prison and get the death penalty, because I was warned by the ethics committee, warnings that I disagree with.
So the point is, as I point out in my book, and I'm very forthright about it. And I tell the truth of what's going on here. And we're seeing it with the attorney general scandal.
The criminalization of politics has taken a new level. And the Democrats have a strategy to not just vilify somebody but to destroy them if they stand up and are effective in what they're doing.
And we're seeing it in your segment right before me. Here is -- here is a scandal that's made up. There's no evidence whatsoever of illegal activity. There's not even evidence of unethical activity. It's a personnel matter that the press and the Democrats in the Senate are now coordinated.
Used to be the press were responsible enough to at least investigate it to see if there's a scandal. And if there's one, run with it. If there's not, drop it.
But now, all you have to have is somebody accuse you of something. It can be a frivolous accusation. And the scandal's off and running. It's really destroying and undermining our institutions.
PILGRIM: Thanks very much for being with us tonight, Tom DeLay. Thank you, sir.
DELAY: Thank you, Kitty.