Tom Delay, House Majority Leader, was indicted on a conspiracy charge Wednesday after a lengthy investigation into possible violations of campaign finance rules.
He stepped down from his position as majority leader, but proclaimed his innocence and called the charges a \sham"" and ""political retribution.""
A Texas grand jury accused Delay and two associates of improperly sending corporate donations to Republican candidates for the Texas Legislature.
Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle said Delay could face two years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines if convicted. Earle defended his decision to prosecute Delay.
""The law says that corporate contributions to political campaigns are illegal in Texas,"" Earle said. ""The law makes such contributions a felony. My job is to prosecute felonies; I'm doing my job.""
Delay said he has received ""heartwarming"" support from Republican colleagues. Majority Whip Roy Blunt will serve as interim leader.
A bill passed by the state Assembly Tuesday would put new restrictions on Wisconsin resident aliens seeking driver's licenses and identifications.
Current law requires residents seeking a driver's license or ID to provide the Department of Transportation with basic information such as their name, address, date of birth and physical description.
This bill would require alien residents to provide proof that they are legally living in the state of Wisconsin and the date on which their legal status expires.
Provisions of the bill also require that state driver's licenses and IDs of alien residents contain the date that their legal status expires.
The bill passed 62-35 with most Republicans supporting it and most Democrats opposing it. Reps. Berceau, Black, Pocan and Parisi, all of Madison, opposed the bill. Rep. Mark Pettis, R-Hertel, proposed it in February.
The Wisconsin branch of the American Civil Liberties Union opposed the passage of the bill, Assembly Bill 69. At a hearing about the bill in May, DOT officials argued against the bill, saying it could lead to an increase in the number of unlicensed and uninsured drivers on the road.
For years, the giant squid has been sly-hiding itself in the depths of the ocean, but Sept. 28, two Japanese scientists reported they made the world's first observations of a giant squid in the wild.
Approximately 600 miles south of Tokyo, Tsunemi Kubodera and Kyoichi Mori photographed the squid with a robotic camera 3,000 feet into the ocean.
The slimy struggle lasted more than four hours and the creature, which is more than 26 feet long, broke free of the offered bait, but not before leaving behind an 18-foot-long tentacle.
In the British journal in which the scientists reported the recent findings, journalists wrote that the squid ""appears to be a much more active predator than previously suspected, using its elongated feeding tentacles to strike and tangle prey.""
Until Kubodera and Mori surrounded the squid, every other expedition failed to photograph the creature in its natural habitat, deep in the depths of the ocean.
The bill will now move to the state Senate.
