NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Former Enron Chief Executive Ken Lay argues Wednesday in The Washington Post that the timing of his July 8 indictment and the pace of his trial are not so much practical as they are political.

Lay says that he offered to "forgo discovery and to waive a jury trial" to speed up his case. "Why, then," he asks in an opinion-page piece, "is the Justice Department not willing to agree to an immediate and speedy trial?"

Writing while the Republican National Convention is taking place in New York City, Lay says: "Could it be that my indictment -- curiously issued two weeks before the Democratic National Convention -- is largely political?"

Lay, reportedly a former top Bush contributor, writes that the reason rests with the president's Enron task force, which he says is using his indictment as evidence that it is heavy on the trail of corporate crime. In addition, Lay argues that the task force wants to avoid his trial -- a trial he believes he can win -- before the November election.

"The Constitution guarantees justice and a speedy trial," writes Lay. "I am guilty of no crime and eager to prove my innocence."

Lay questions whether Bush officials are disposed to "a dispassionate prosecution of crime," citing statements such as that of Linda C. Thomsen, deputy director of enforcement for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, who Lay quotes as saying "just the mention of the name Enron evokes images of duplicity and greed." Such statements, he says, "look more like part of a political campaign."

He writes that the task force's complicated, multi-part indictment of Lay in July, after more than two years of investigations, amounted to a "maneuver," such that the former Enron chief "could not possibly get an open, public trial before November."

"The legal case against me, standing alone, is a flimsy, hollow shell and reeks of politics," Lay charges, then challenges those pursuing his case: "With justice in the balance, do you have a real case, based on the law and not on politics? Subject to the judges schedule, meet me in court before November."