Today's New York Times story by Carl Hulse focuses primarily on DeLay's expiration date as the once and future (in his mind) Majority Leader. Hulse quotes Amy Walter (go Mules!) saying that DeLay will face trouble regaining his Majority Leader post unless he has a speedy dismissal in Texas, which doesn't look likely:

Travis County D.A. Ronnie Earle told the Houston Chronicle that new information obtained over the weekend led to the most recent indictments against former Republican Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Dick DeGuerin, DeLay's attorney, called Earle's statement "crazy," and accused the prosecutor of offering "a sweet deal" to DeLay's co-defendants to get them to testify against his client.

There's going to be some confusion before all is said and done, but Jonathan Salant and Darrell Preston from Bloomberg report that the grand jury in Travis County has issued two new indictments:

DeLay, 58, who faces up to two years in prison on a conspiracy charge filed last week, was indicted on two counts of money laundering today, said a spokesman for Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.

ABC News is reporting that a Texas Grand Jury has indicted former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay on a new charge of money laundering. Stay tuned for more.

UPDATE: Per The Austin American-Statesman - the new indictment is to correct a problem with last week's indictment.

The conservative Manchester Union-Leader/New Hampshire Sunday News editorialized today that former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay is bad for the Republican party and must leave office.

They argue that whether or not the indictment has merit, DeLay's argument that Earle is playing politics simply doesn't pass muster.

The indicted Tom DeLay has a choice. Play to the jury, or play to the public. Think selfishly about his own hide, or try to staunch the political wound cut deep into the Washington establishment he helped to build.

It's clear that he's pursuing the latter.

So much to read this morning!

The indicted Tom DeLay (which we will now henceforth label him, until we tire of it) has been swinging at District Attorney Ronnie Earle for months, calling Earle partisan and proclaiming the whole proceedings are about politics. But I just found this great nugget from the long AP story (which allows the indicted Tom DeLay more than equal time, if you ask me):

Read this excerpt from R.G. Ratcliffe's Houston Chronicle article this morning about directions the TRMPAC case could take:

But Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle hinted that he might have indicted DeLay if the congressional leader had fallen under his jurisdiction. Because DeLay lives in Sugar Land, jurisdiction under Texas election law would fall to Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey Jr.

In all the stories, predictions, and hopes regarding the Ronnie Earle investigation into Tom DeLay's conduct in the 2002 Texas state legislative elections, there is one line I was worried about someday reading. From the AP story on yesterday's indictment of TRMPAC: