Recently retired Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle, whose old office has come under siege by two House Republicans he named in an indictment, is considering a run to be the top lawyer in Texas. In an interview with the Austin American-Statesman, Earle trots out the well-worn line politicians use when they're trying to sound more dutiful than ambitious.

"There have been people who have talked to me about statewide runs," he said, referring mainly to the Texas attorney general's office.

Of course, if Earle were to become the state's most powerful prosecutor--and some would argue he already had that job--he might welcome the recent GOP efforts to weaken the Travis County district attorney's office.

Here's why: Both Republican House members Wayne Christian and Sid Miller, who Earle called out in his indictment of the Texas Association of Business for taking their tainted campaign cash, have backed measures that would strip the Travis County district attorney's office of most of its powers to prosecute statewide officials for corruption. In turn, Christian and Miller have proposed turning over that power to .... the Texas attorney general's office.

(Earle never accused Christian and Miller of wrongdoing, but he did link the GOP stalwarts to his prosecution of Tom DeLay.)

H/T Kuff's World

Also see Burnt Orange Report.