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This week on NOW:
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) has been called one of the most powerful and controversial leaders Congress has ever seen. Over the years, many believe DeLay has become the nexus of corporate money and politics in Washington. Today, one of his political action committees, Texans for a
Republican Majority (TRMPAC), is at the center of a criminal investigation. What will this investigation reveal about the man they call "The Hammer" of the House of Representatives? NOW goes inside the current investigation into DeLay's alleged fundraising improprieties. With interviews from
prosecutors and Washington insiders, NOW profiles DeLay, examines the case against TRMPAC, and analyzes what his brand of political fundraising means for democracy.
What are the powers of a president in times of war? This week, Attorney General John Ashcroft refused to release the government memo that contends that a wartime president is not bound by existing laws prohibiting torture and wouldn't comment on any advice he might have given the President
regarding the memo. Some argue that the memorandum laid the ground work for the abuses that surfaced in the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. David Brancaccio talks to Ron Daniels, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which, this week along with the Philadelphia law firm
Montgomery, McCracken, Walker and Rhoads, filed lawsuits against two US corporations contracted in Iraq. The Center claims these contractors, in the name of corporate profits, conspired to humiliate, torture and abuse persons detained by U.S. authorities in Iraq.
There's a movement afoot among the press in Washington to push for less secrecy in government. Last Month, Tom Curley, president and CEO of the Associated Press unveiled a plan for a "media advocacy center" to lobby for open government. "The government is pushing hard for secrecy," said Curley,
"We must push back equally hard for openness." Curley has led the Associated Press since June 1, 2003, and he is the 12th person to head the worldwide news organization since its founding in 1848. Previously, Curley was president and publisher of USA TODAY, the nation's largest-selling daily
newspaper. A Bill Moyers interview.
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