Delay a 'good ally': White House

The White House praised indicted House of Representatives majority leader Tom DeLay after he stepped aside from his key Republican Party post temporarily to fight to clear his name.
"Congressman Delay is a good ally, a leader who we have worked closely with to get things done for the American people," said President George W. Bush's spokesman Scott McClellan.
"We need to let the legal process proceed, and that is what the president believes," McClellan said, but declined to comment on the charge facing Delay, a political bruiser who is a key White House ally in Congress. DeLay announced Wednesday he was temporarily stepping down as Republican Party majority leader in the House of Representatives following his indictment on a conspiracy charge in his home state of Texas.