That seems to be the strategy of Ronnie Earle in the Tom DeLay case. After all, how else can you explainthe fact that only a few hundred dollars of expenses related to the Tom DeLay investigation were reported prior to the indictment of the former GOP congressman, while tens of thousands were reported afterwards?

Weeks before Texas Republican Tom DeLay resigned from Congress, five of Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle's staffers traveled to Washington, D.C., and pursued their investigation of DeLay at a cost of more than $40,000.

The expenditures, made six months after DeLay was indicted by a grand jury that heard evidence presented by Earle's staff, are documented in records obtained by the Houston Chronicle on Thursday. Under open records law, the newspaper had asked for material on the cost of the probe.

Rosemary Lehmberg, a top Earle deputy, said Thursday that Earle's team traveled to Washington from Austin to interview witnesses in preparation for DeLay's trial, which is still pending.

Almost all the spending for the investigation of DeLay was made only after he was indicted in September 2005, according to the records.

Of the $41,103 that Earle's office said reflected all the money spent pursuing the case, only $313 was documented before the indictment. Yet Earle's probe of DeLay began in February 2003.

Lehmberg said it is possible some of the expenses, such as a $3,000 fee for transcribing witness statements, involved witnesses interviewed before DeLay was indicted and that the transcripts were produced afterward.

Oh, and by the way, Earle refuses to disclose how he is spending the public's money for nearly half his expenses related to the case. I gues that we, the little people, just ae not entitled to know how he pissed-away $19,000.

Ronnie Earle -- unethical by any definition.