Tom Craddick: Keel Memo Is The Smoking Gun
By Vince Leibowitz on Aug 21, 2007 in 80th Legislature ![[Post to Twitter]](/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter.png){kind=icon}
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[Yesterday, we detailed some facts and released some documents in the ongoing saga related to House Speaker Tom Craddick and his attempts to hold on to his position during the waning moments of the 80th Legislature. Given the amount of information we threw out there, it's not surprising that the focus was more on the documents than what they really meant. Today, we address the latter part of the equation in several posts.]
In the final days of the 80th Legislature, House Speaker Tom Craddick went to every length possible to keep his position, including resorting to shredding the state constitution, misconstruing House Rules, and disregarding precedents.It’s clear from the documents we made public yesterday and from observation of the Legislature, that controversy surrounding a “motion to vacate the Chair” existed well before attempts were made to actually have such a motion recognized.
Clearly, anyone in Craddick’s position was probably preparing for the worst. And, as House Parliamentarians, it was the job of Denise Davis and Chris Griesel to issue an interpretation on a motion to vacate the Chair.
At some point, it is clear that Craddick asked the House Parliamentarians what their rulings would be. We asked the Speaker’s office to release any and all documents relating to a parliamentary ruling on a motion to vacate the chair, including any memos, notes, or draft rulings which Davis and/or Griesel may have drafted.
In releasing all documents the Speaker’s office said was responsive to our request, there were no “draft opinions” released. The only thing anywhere near one was the Terry Keel memorandum of May 21.
That memorandum is Tom Craddick’s smoking gun.
It shows that, well before the night all Hell broke loose in the Texas House on May 25, Craddick had already decided to ignore the advice of the House’s paid parliamentarians and, instead, go down a path that would create a constitutional crisis for Texas and the Legislature.
Although Davis and Griesel have not spoken publicly about the saga, what happened on the floor of the House combined with the Keel memorandum help to explain things.
Craddick had obviously solicited advice from his parliamentarians prior to May 25 on a motion to vacate the chair. Clearly, sometime before May 21, he was told what their opinions were.
In fact, in Craddick Press Secretary Alexis DeLee’s statement of May 25 concerning Davis’ resignation, we are told as much, in not so many words:
“In the last few weeks, the Speaker has received a number of informal inquiries on intricate and complicated constitutional issues. Consequently, he has canvassed a wide range of legal opinions, and in some cases has put a higher premium on that counsel. As a result, Denise has resigned and has asked to be transferred.”
The higher premium was clearly placed upon the advice of Terry Keel, a former State Representative and old ally Craddick used to find a way out.
Finding a way out was important for Craddick, for he himself had participated in a 1971 challenge concerning whether or not the Speaker had the absolute authority to recognize a member:
Dunnam countered that in 1971 a young Craddick had voted to appeal a ruling by then-Speaker Gus Mutscher when that embattled speaker refused a motion by the House to investigate him.
“If you voted that way in ‘71, why can’t the chamber vote that way now? Dunnam asked.
Craddick said he was unsure that the Rule 5, Section 24 was part of the 1971 rules. Then Dunnam claimed it was and his allies immediately distributed copies of the House Journal describing the 1971 showdown.
Keel provided Craddick with a way out: Keel’s May 21 memorandum misconstrued and shredded the Texas Constitution into an unrecognizable document. Craddick took hold of that and he and his lawyers and allies maintain to this day, as the controversy over the speaker’s power and authority now rests in the hands of the Attorney General, that Craddick is a constitutional officeholder subject to removal only by impeachment.
This is an idea that originated in the mind of Terry Keel, and today it holds the Texas House hostage. Never before in Texas history has the Speaker of the House even been suggested to be a statewide officer subject only to impeachment. Further, dating back to the 14th Century, precedents show that the Speaker of a legislative body is subject to the will of his peers.
Craddick clearly knew well before May 25 that he would take Keel’s advice and not that of his parliamentarians. When he finally took that step off the cliff and into the abyss on May 25, they bowed out rather than be tainted by virtue of association.
Craddick’s immediate appointment of Keel and Ron Wilson (D-Houston) shows a premeditation to implement a dictatorship in the Speaker’s chair by deliberately disregarding the constitution, House Rules, and longstanding precedents.
Clearly, Craddick knew his bad decision would result in the resignation of the House Parliamentarians. And, he had two former Lieutenants waiting in the wings ready to fall on all available ethical swords to keep his dictatorial rule intact.
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