Today's indictment followed DeLay's request to dismiss the first indictment. DeLay contends that the original charge was based on a statute that wasn't in effect in 2002, when he allegedly conspired to violate election laws.

The NY Times reports that the Justice Department's investigation of Jack Abramoff may add to DeLay's legal worries.

The new indictment was issued as Bush administration officials confirmed news reports in London that the Justice Department had asked the British police to question former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher about the circumstances of her meeting in 2000 with Mr. DeLay during a trip to Britain organized by the Washington lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

The interview request was the first publicly disclosed evidence from the Justice Department that Mr. DeLay was under scrutiny in the department's wide-ranging corruption investigation of Mr. Abramoff.

Update: Here's a possible explanation of the timing of the new indictment:

The backdrop for yesterday's action may have been a dispute over the continued viability of a waiver of the three-year statute of limitations that DeLay granted in writing on Sept. 12, in order to keep trying to persuade Earle not to issue any indictments. After last week's conspiracy charge, DeGuerin said the waiver was withdrawn.

Yesterday's indictments maintained the waiver was still in effect. But DeGuerin said in an interview that Earle may have brought the new charges so speedily because he was uncertain of his ground on that issue. A key transaction in the alleged conspiracy -- the payment of $190,000 by the RNC to the Texas Republican candidates -- occurred on Oct. 4, 2002, or three years ago today.

That means that if the waiver is no longer in effect, the new charges had to be brought quickly. "I think they were losing sleep about this over the weekend," DeGuerin said.