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Donors Underwrite DeLay's Deluxe Lifestyle By LARRY MARGASAK and SHARON
THEIMER, Associated Press Writers

As Tom DeLay became a king of campaign fundraising, he lived like one
too. He visited cliff-top Caribbean resorts, golf courses designed by
PGA champions and four-star restaurants - all courtesy of donors who
bankrolled his political money empire.

Over the past six years, the former House majority leader and his
associates have visited places of luxury most Americans have never
seen, often getting there aboard corporate jets arranged by lobbyists
and other special interests.

Public documents reviewed by The Associated Press tell the story: at
least 48 visits to golf clubs and resorts; 100 flights aboard company
planes; 200 stays at hotels, many world-class; and 500 meals at
restaurants, some averaging nearly $200 for a dinner for two.

Instead of his personal expense, the meals and trips for DeLay and his
associates were paid with donations collected by the campaign
committees, political action committees and children's charity the
Texas Republican created during his rise to the top of Congress. His
lawyer says the expenses are part of DeLay's effort to raise money from
Republicans and to spread the GOP message.

Put them together and a lifestyle emerges.

"A life to enjoy. The excuse to escape," Palmas del Mar, an oceanside
Puerto Rican resort visited by DeLay, promised in a summer ad on its
Web site as a golf ball bounced into a hole and an image of a sunset
appeared.

The Caribbean vacation spot has casino gambling, horseback riding,
snorkeling, deep-sea fishing and private beaches.

"He was very friendly. We always see the relaxed side of politicians,"
said Daniel Vassi, owner of the French bistro Chez Daniel at Palmas del
Mar. Vassi said DeLay has eaten at his restaurant every year for the
last three, and was last there in April with about 20 other people,
including the resort's owners.

The restaurant is a cozy and popular place on the yacht-lined marina at
Palmas del Mar. Dishes include bouillabaisse for about $35.50, Dover
sole for $37.50 and filet mignon for $28.50. Palmas del Mar is also a
DeLay donor, giving $5,000 to DeLay's Americans for a Republican
Majority PAC in 2000.

Since he joined the House leadership as majority whip in 1995, DeLay
has raised at least $35 million for his campaign, PACs, foundation and
legal defense fund. He hasn't faced a serious re-election threat in
recent years, giving him more leeway than candidates in close races to
spend campaign money.

AP's review found DeLay's various organizations spent at least $1
million over the last six years on hotels, restaurants, golf resorts
and corporate jet flights for their boss and his associates.

While it's illegal for a lawmaker to tap political donations for a
family vacation, it is perfectly legal to spend it in luxury if the
stated purpose is raising more money or talking politics.

Until his recent indictment in Texas on political money laundering
charges, DeLay was the second most powerful lawmaker in the House and
as such, could command an audience of donors wherever he went.

DeLay attorney Don McGahn declined to identify which trips listed in
the reports were taken by DeLay and which by his associates. But he
said all the travel was legal and not done for DeLay's benefit.
"Raising political money costs money," he said.

"Mr. DeLay has done extensive fundraising, and traveled far and wide to
do so, but you would be hard-pressed to find someone who has raised
more for others, whether for candidates or political parties," McGahn
said.

Special interests routinely make donations and attend fundraisers to
gain access to government decisionmakers. And while other congressional
leaders accepted trips and used political money to cover travel, none
compares with DeLay:

_Campaign and PAC reports filed by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist,
R-Tenn., show several payments to companies for travel, including
Cracker Barrel, Union Pacific, Schering-Plough and Home Depot. But
there were few visits to golf courses, and those were mostly close to
home.

_Reports from Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., show expenses
at resorts in South Carolina, New Mexico and Puerto Rico. But he too
holds most events closer to home, like Las Vegas casinos and Lake Tahoe
resorts.

_House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has held events at ritzy
hotels such as The Mark in New York and the Four Seasons in Atlanta,
but had few corporate flights or visits to resorts, her reports show.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., comes closest to rivaling DeLay's
travels, reporting fundraisers at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts in
Florida, the Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua, Hawaii, the Phoenician Resort in
Scottsdale, Ariz., and the Waterfall Resort in Alaska. Hastert's groups
also paid for dozens of corporate jet flights and restaurant meals.

Some say DeLay pushes the limits, and risks alienating donors.

"I don't think the people that contributed to me would believe it was a
good expenditure of their hard-earned dollars for me to go and play
golf and enjoy life anywhere," said former Rep. Charlie Stenholm, a
fiscally conservative Texas Democrat who lost his House seat following
DeLay-led redistricting.

A $50 contributor to one of DeLay's political groups wasn't phased by
the spending, saying he gives to politicians who share his political
views. "I guess it's almost an automatic fifty bucks to anybody who's
on my side," said George Wrenn, a retired architectural historian from
Freedom, N.H.

DeLay's travels with recently indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff are now
under criminal investigation. But those trips were paid by special
interests directly under the banner of congressional fact-finding.

DeLay's own political empire has underwritten far more travel.

The destinations for DeLay or his political team include a Ritz-Carlton
hotel in Jamaica; the Prince Hotel in Hapuna Beach, Hawaii; the
Michelangelo Hotel in New York; the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort &
Golden Door Spa in Fajardo, Puerto Rico; and the Phoenician Resort in
Scottsdale, Ariz., built by Charles Keating before he became the most
public face of the savings and loan scandal in the early 1990s.

There's also the Ritz-Carlton in Naples, Fla., offering "dazzling views
of the Gulf of Mexico, warm golden sunsets and three miles of pristine
beach" plus golf, a spa, goose-down comforters, marble bathrooms and
private, ocean-view balconies. Rooms run from about $389 to more than
$3,000 a night in December, the month DeLay's PAC spent $4,570 on
lodging there in 2004.

"He liked to talk to people," said Pedro Muriel, a waiter at Puerto
Rico's El Conquistador Resort. Muriel recalled DeLay staying in an
enclave of privately owned red tile-roofed villas.

The villas have up to three bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms and French
doors that open onto terraces or balconies facing the Caribbean. A
moon-shape pool hugs the edge of a steep cliff, its waters spilling
over and appearing to blend into the sea. Villa prices average about
$1,300 a night.

Guests get their own butlers. The resort offers six swimming pools and
an 18-hole championship golf course. Its casino served as the setting
for the last scene in the James Bond movie "Goldfinger."

DeLay's donors have also financed visits to country clubs and
tournament-quality golf courses, including the exclusive Baltusrol Golf
Club in Springfield, N.J., site of this summer's PGA Championship;
Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Pa., home of another PGA
event; and Harbour Town Golf Links, a Jack Nicklaus-designed course on
Hilton Head Island, S.C.

"World class. Dynamic. Luxury resort. Spend a day, spend a week, spend
a lifetime," another DeLay fundraising spot, the ChampionsGate golf
resort near Orlando, Fla., invites on its Web site.

The resort, where a round of golf typically costs $70 to $80 per player
on top of lodging, has two championship courses designed by pro golfer
Greg Norman and offers players a Global Positioning Satellite system it
boasts "acts as a professional caddie."

Dining at fine restaurants also is routine. The stops for DeLay and his
associates include Morton's of Chicago, where the average dinner for
two goes for about $170 before tax and tip, and "21" in Manhattan, a
longtime glamour spot where American caviar goes for $38 for a taste.

When DeLay wants to head somewhere without the hassle of commercial
travel, he often asks a company for its jet and uses donations to pay
for it.

Dozens of businesses have loaned DeLay their planes, from tobacco
giants UST, RJ Reynolds and Philip Morris to energy companies like El
Paso, Panda, Reliant and Dynegy.

R.J. Reynolds let DeLay use a company plane at least nine times since
1999, once joining Philip Morris in making jets available for a DeLay
PAC fundraiser at a Puerto Rican resort in winter 2002. R.J. Reynolds
spokesman David Howard said planes are loaned usually at lawmakers'
request and are only done if jets aren't needed for company business.

"It's much more convenient as opposed to your regular commercial
travel," Howard said, noting there is no need to go through airport
security.

On R.J. Reynolds' planes, smoking is allowed and there are usually
beverages and deli-style food. There's more leg room and the
convenience of phones.

The smoking rule suits DeLay, who likes to chomp on cigars while
golfing and reported spending at least $1,930 in PAC money on
cigar-shop purchases. The cigars were reported to the Federal Election
Commission as donor gifts.

DeLay's political committee also reported a $2,896 shopping spree at
the Amelia Marche Burette gift shop on Amelia Island, Fla., for donor
gifts. The shop carries "gourmet cookware, Sabatier cutlery and gadgets
for your every need."

____

Associated Press writer Alexandra Olson in San Juan, Puerto Rico,
contributed to this report.