for the past couple days, people had been hearing rumors... and now we know they are true.

tom delay indicted!

U.S. Representative Tom DeLay, the second-highest-ranking Republican in the House of Representatives, was indicted by a Texas grand jury on a single count of criminal conspiracy, according to the grand jury clerk.

DeLay, 58, who faces up to two years in prison, will temporarily step aside as House majority leader, he said in a statement. House Speaker Dennis Hastert said he will recommend that Representative David Dreier of California to replace DeLay, the Associated Press reported.

Two former campaign aides, John Colyandro and Jim Ellis, were also charged with conspiracy by the grand jury in Austin, Texas, said Linda Estrada, the court clerk.

The indictment stems from a grand jury investigation into alleged use of illegal corporate contributions by DeLay's political action committee, Texans for a Republican Majority, in the 2002 races for the state House of Representatives.

so he's stepping down as majority leader. good riddance. tom delay is so dirty and was under investigation for so many improprieties that it was just a matter of time before he got indicted for something.

but that could be said for many other prominent officials. for example, we know that the fitzgerald investigation into the plame leak case is wrapping up. that promises to be bad for the bush administration. will karl rove be indicted?

and the multiple investigations surrounding former top GOP lobbyist abramoff are turning up all sorts of salacious scandals, too many to even attempt to reprint here. for that, you'd be better served reading the relevant posts on TPM.

and bill frist, the senate majority leader, is at the center of yet another probe on suspicion of insider trading: he just happened to sell off a bunch of stock right before its market value significantly dropped. and by coincidence all the head honchos at the company were selling their stock at the same time. what serendipity! except that the stock was supposed to be in a "blind trust", meaning that trust-holders are not supposed to know—or have any control—over what stocks are held by the trust.

i've been wondering for a long time when all these scandals would finally catch up to the republicans. now they have, with delay being the first to fall (though he wants to come back). how quickly will the rest fall? i'm afraid we'll have to wait and find out.¶

three words: full presidential pardons. ¶