WASHINGTON, DC -- "Federal officials have no business in local courtrooms," said Tom DeLay, who says that fighting his indictment is an issue of federalism. "We've got to keep the federal government — me — out of state and local courts."
    Legal experts, however, say that DeLay is being indicted as a Texan violating Texas law. "DeLay is actually saying that federal officials should be immune to state law," said Faye Aleman, a legal scholar from George Washington University.
    DeLay contends that legal argument comes only from "desparate lunatics" who "know they've finally been cornered."