WASHINGTON, 5 October 2005 — Former US House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who resigned as House Leader last week after charges on conspiracy in fund-raising, was indicted again on Monday — this time on money laundering charges — in an escalating criminal case that has far-ranging political implications in Texas and Washington.

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

The new indictment accuses DeLay, a Texas Republican, of illegally circumventing the state’s law against corporate campaign contributions, and was issued by a newly empanelled Travis County grand jury on the first day of its term.

The new indictments against DeLay caught many Washington insiders off guard. It was followed by a matter of hours, a motion by DeLay’s defense team to drop last week’s charge on the grounds that the Texas prosecutor in charge of the case lacked the authority to pursue it. The lawyers alleged that the crime of conspiracy was not covered by the state election law at the time of the alleged violation. Legal experts said the new charges were likely filed to head off a potential problem with the previous charge.

The new charges roughly match allegations made against two of DeLay’s political associates a year ago. His two associates — John Colyandro and Jim Ellis — also were reindicted on conspiracy and money laundering charges. Both men had been indicted on a money laundering charge last year.

DeLay, who had earlier accused the prosecutor — Travis County district attorney Ronnie Earle — of partisan zealotry, promptly issued a statement accusing him of stooping “to a new low with his brand of prosecutorial abuse”.

DeLay called the initial charges “one of the weakest and most baseless indictments in American history.” All of the charges stem from an alleged check for $190,000 US in corporate money sent from the political committee to the Republican National Committee. The national party then sent a similar amount of money to seven candidates for the Texas House of Representatives in 2002.

Prosecutors argued that was a violation of the state’s ban on the use of corporate money in local election campaigns. DeLay attorney Dick DeGuerin maintained that the money spent on Texas candidates was “lawfully collected from individuals who knew what they were contributing to.” If convicted, the money laundering charge carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Legal experts said the new charges were likely filed to head off a potential problem with the previous charge.

The initial conspiracy charge — conspiracy to commit money laundering is a second-degree felony punishable by two years’ probation to 20 years in prison with a fine of up to $10,000.

DeLay has said his resignation as majority leader is temporary and has vowed to continue to exercise influence over the House through his close ties to Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and other leaders. Some moderate Republicans, however, have questioned whether he should be allowed to return to power.

Liberal editorialists were quick to jump on the indictment and the GOP: “DeLay insists he did nothing illegal, but the core facts speak to the hubris of the new machine politics. Drawing congressional district lines for political purposes is an old story, but DeLay went a step further. He got the Texas Legislature to toss out a congressional map that had been drawn only two years earlier, an unprecedented act of political gamesmanship,” wrote columnist E.J. Dionne.