[GOP Corruption]

Tom DeLay Indicted

A grand jury in Texas has indicted House Majority Leader Tom DeLay:

A Travis County grand jury today indicted U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on one count of criminal conspiracy, prompting the Sugar Land Republican to give up his leadership post in Congress....

The charge, a state jail felony punishable by up to two years incarceration, stems from his role with his political committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, a now-defunct organization that already had been indicted on charges of illegally using corporate money during the 2002 legislative elections.

"I have notified (House Speaker Dennis Hastert) that I will temporarily step aside from my position as majority leader pursuant to rules of the House Republican Conference and the actions of the Travis County District Attorney today," DeLay said in a statement.

Oh, how sweet it is.

[Update (12:56 pm): The Austin American-Statesman has great coverage of the breaking story.

Statement from DeLay's office
"These charges have no basis in the facts or the law. This is just another example of Ronnie Earle misusing his office for partisan vendettas." (Etc.)

Statement from DeLay's press conference
"This morning, in an act of blatant political partisanship, a rogue district attorney in Travis County, Texas named Ronnie Earle charged me with one count of criminal conspiracy, a reckless charge wholly unsupported by the facts. This is one of the weakest, most baseless indictments in American history." (Etc.)

The indictment (.pdf)
Videos: AP video | White House reaction (Scott McClellan) | DeLay

Elsewhere, here's a timeline of the events. ]