In a major victory for former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) an appeals court judge threw out more than 30 subpoenas issued by the prosecuting attorney Ronnie Earle. According to the Houston Chronicle, “Most of the subpoenas concerned political fundraising controversies involving DeLay, some dating back to 1996.” Some of the records sought included information related to PerfectWave Technologies, a firm related to the Duke Cunningham bribery case; a subpoena of DeLay’s wife relating to ties to Jack Abramoff; and a subpoena for records of former Abramoff coworkers at Preston Gates, a lobbying firm that donated $25,000 to DeLay’s TRMPAC. DeLay’s lawyers claim that this ruling indicates that Earle is “abusing his office”.