Congressional referees have thrown yellow flags accusing House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of playing rough in the contact sport of politics.
Whether DeLay gets ejected from the game could come down to a grand jury investigation in Texas.
The Republican from Sugar Land has been rebuked twice by a House ethics committee for questionable conduct. All eyes are now on the Lone Star State and the ongoing criminal probe by Travis County District Attorney Ronnie Earle.
DeLay says the investigation isn't about him.
But Earle and a grand jury are unraveling a web of candidates' campaign spending that is deeply intertwined with DeLay's political fund-raising machine.
A grand jury probing possible illegal corporate spending in Texas' 2002 legislative races has returned indictments against three DeLay associates and eight corporations.
