"Judge Drops DeLay Associate From Lawsuit"

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - A federal judge has dropped an associate and co-defendant of former House majority leader Tom DeLay from a campaign finance lawsuit.

Judge Lee Yeakel removed Republican fundraiser John Colyandro from a lawsuit filed by Kirk Watson, a former candidate for Texas attorney general who sued Colyandro and the Law Enforcement Alliance of America last year, claiming that corporate-financed advertising illegally influenced the 2002 elections.

The Virginia-based group, which supports gun rights and police, remains a defendant in the case.

The law enforcement alliance spent an estimated $1.5 million on a TV commercial aired in the final days of the 2002 campaign that attacked Watson as a personal injury trial lawyer who "made millions suing doctors, hospitals and small businesses."

http://apnews1.iwon.com/article/20051130/D8E6J3C00.html