While the big news of the week is that Tom Delay was formally indicted for violating Texas state finance laws--see TPM's take on the indictment, as well as a never-before-published emails that question Delay's claim to have cut off contact with Abramoff back in early 2001--there were plenty of other developments outside of Sugar Land, TX.

To begin with, followers of the Jack Abramoff and Adam Kidan indictment story may remember that Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, whom Abramoff and Kidan bought SunCruz casinos from for $147 million back in September 2000, was murdered in a "gangland-style" hit in February 2001.  This was about 2 months after Boulis stabbed Kidan with a pen, and Kidan claimed Boulis was trying to kill him.  (The Sun-Sentinel has a useful timeline of Boulis' life here.)  Last Tuesday, three men were charged with the murder of Boulis, and on Wednesday a fourth person was indicted whom the three tried to hire to kill Boulis.  What's particularly noteworthy is that two of the three charged were on the SunCruz payroll.  Anthony "little Tony" Ferrari's company was paid $95,000 for security services, and Anthony "Big Tony" Moscatiello's company was paid $145,000 for catering and beverage services.  

The FBI and the Justice Department's inspector general are looking into the curious demotion of Guam's Acting US Attorney, Frederick Black, back in November 2002--days after he told the Justice Department he was investigating Abramoff.  Until then Black had held his post for 12 years, and Abramoff had a "lucrative lobbying practice" in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.  Although Abramoff boosted his business credentials by touting his close relationship with then-Attorney General Ashcroft, an Ashcroft spokesman claims he had no contact with Abramoff.  Given a 2000 email exchange Josh Marshall added to the TPM documents collection where staffers for Abramoff and Ashcroft discuss possible dates for the Attorney General and his wife to use Abramoff's MCI Center skybox, this claim looks somewhat spurious.

This week Kentucky Governor Ernie Fletcher hired one of his campaign consultants, Brett Hall, as communications director, and will pay Hall $105,000 a year.  The previous communications director, who resigned in early September, was paid $82,000.  The state Democratic party chair criticized the appointment, saying "It's another blatant slap in the face by the governor. He has given his campaign consultant a state job so the taxpayers can pay his salary while he's running the governor's re-election campaign."  But Hall claims "I'm not here to run a campaign for the re-election of Ernie Fletcher. I'm here to make sure that the official functions involving this office are done professionally and the best anyone could do them."  

In Coingate news, Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro alleges to have new evidence that rare-coin dealer Thomas Noe funneled $240,000 of state money into a personal account he used to buy a home on Lake Erie, and then forged an $110,000 check in state money to finance $43,000 worth of landscaping done on Noe's Florida home.  (The Toledo Blade has a must-read article about Noe's "lavish lifestyle," complete with a picture of Noe's Florida home and its $43,000 in landscaping.)  

Finally, Governor Bob Taft has reached a new low in his approval ratings.  A Columbus Dispatch (subscription only) survey of 1,300 registered voters found that 15 percent approve of Taft's job performance, and 85 percent disapprove--including 75 percent of Republicans.  As an AP story on the poll notes, "Not even President Nixon during the Watergate scandal was this unpopular.  Nixon's approval rating was at 24 percent when he quit in 1974."