TEXAS POLITICS - Show Me The Money! (Seriously, we need to see the receipts.)

The LATimes has a blockbuster about the Texas GOP Takeover of 2002, specifically the campaign finance investigation. Take a minute and go read the whole thing.

AUSTIN, Texas — Authorities are conducting a criminal investigation into whether corporate money, including hundreds of thousands of dollars linked to U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, improperly financed the Republican Party's takeover of the Texas Capitol.
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At issue is whether the organizations improperly used corporate contributions to help finance the campaigns of more than 20 Republican candidates for the Texas House of Representatives in 2002, according to documents and interviews with prosecutors and government investigators.
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Sources close to the investigation said they are looking at several aspects of Texans for a Republican Majority's finances.

They said, for instance, that the group reported one batch of finances to the Texas Ethics Commission, but a different set of numbers to the IRS.

They also are interested in a $190,000 transaction in September 2002, two months before the election. The sources said they suspect the money was sent from Texans for a Republican Majority to an arm of the Republican National Committee, which in turn donated it to Republican candidates in Texas — among the allegations GOP leaders deny.

Some corporations that gave money to Texans for a Republican Majority have worked with DeLay on federal issues. For instance, the tobacco company Philip Morris donated $20,000. DeLay has long opposed raising taxes on cigarettes.