DeLay's lawyer lies, gets caught

Who says the blogs don't make a difference? The press might be too lazy to spend a couple of minutes fact-checking, but at least they're being forced to correct themselves sometimes. Think Progress caught DeLay's attorney making a false claim about MoveOn in an attempt to have a judge disqualified from the case.

The AP story, as it originally appeared:

The judge, Bob Perkins, has been a contributor to Democratic causes. DeLay’s attorney pointed out Friday that those causes include MoveOn.org, which is now selling a T-shirt with DeLay’s picture on it.

The corrected piece:

The judge, Bob Perkins, has been a contributor to Democratic causes, including MoveOn.org. So, DeLay's attorney asked the judge to recuse himself. Attorney Dick DeGuerin said MoveOn.org has been selling T-shirts bearing the likeness of Tom DeLay's mug shot. Perkins replied that he's neither seen nor bought such a T-shirt, and that the last time he contributed to MoveOn.org was before last year's election, when they were mostly helping Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry.

In a statement, MoveOn.org said that DeLay's lawyer "has either bad information or lied in court."

This won't stop Fox & Fiends from repeating the claim, undoubtedly, but at least we're catching the press in their errors as they happen.