You can't violate what you ain't got none of.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A freshman Democrat filed an ethics complaint on Tuesday against House of Representatives Majority Leader Tom Delay, a Texas Republican, ending an informal seven-year ethics cease-fire between the two parties.
Rep. Chris Bell of Texas accused DeLay of soliciting campaign donations in return for legislative favors and using a political action committee to launder illegal contributions.
In what DeLay dismissed as a rehash of unsubstantiated and old newspaper clippings, Bell also charged that he had improperly used a federal agency to track down Texas Democratic legislators in a partisan battle last year.
"It is my opinion that Mr. DeLay is the most corrupt politician in America today," Bell told a news conference.
Fired back DeLay: "None of these things have any validity. .... There is no substance to any of them."