Bush ally DeLay indicted for money laundering

A TEXAS grand jury looking into campaign contributions indicted former US House majority leader Tom DeLay for the second time in less than a week yesterday.

Mr DeLay, a close ally of President George W Bush, called the development “an abomination of justice.”

The latest indictment, for one count of conspiring to launder money and one count of money laundering, was brought hours after Mr DeLay’s lawyers attacked the previous indictment, handed down last week, on technical grounds.

Legal experts say the new charges from the Democratic prosecutor were likely filed to head off a potential problem with the previous charge.

It was unclear when Mr Delay would appear in court to face the new charges.

Mr DeLay, 58, is the highest-ranking member of Congress to face criminal prosecution. The initial charge, conspiracy to violate the election code, forced him to step down from his Republican Party leadership post last week.

If convicted, the money laundering charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. The charge of conspiracy to launder money is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. The initial conspiracy charge carries a punishment of up to two years.

Mr DeLay and two political associates are accused of conspiring to get around a state ban on corporate campaign contributions by funneling money through the DeLay-founded Texans for a Republican Majority Political Action Committee.

All of the charges stem from an alleged cheque for $190,000 (€159,197) in corporate money sent from the political committee to the Republican National Committee and the Republican National State Elections Committee. The national party then sent a similar amount of money to seven candidates for the Texas House of Representatives in 2002.

The indictment alleges that Mr DeLay knowingly facilitated the transfer of the corporate money to help the Republicans win a majority in the Texas legislature. Subsequently, Texas lawmakers adopted a DeLay-engineered congressional redistricting plan to put more Texas Republicans in Congress, strengthening the Republican grip on Congress as well.