Tim Noe, the major Ohio Republican donor and coin dealer who lost $10-$12 million worth of the state's rare coin collection, today was indicted on money laundering charges potentially related to the 2004 presidential election. The Toledo Blade has the story.

A federal grand jury has indicted Tom Noe, the former Maumee coin dealer suspected of laundering money into President Bush’s reelection campaign, Mr. Noe’s attorney told The Blade today.

Jon Richardson said he was called this afternoon and informed of the indictment. The details of the indictment are being withheld until a press conference at 4:30 p.m.

[...]

Local law-enforcement sources said investigators are looking at contributions made by people from the Toledo area to the Bush campaign at the fund-raiser, at which the campaign raised $1.4 million.

Mr. Noe, who was tagged a Bush “Pioneer” for helping to raise at least $100,000 for Bush campaign, sponsored a table at the event, and invited a number of people to attend.

An individual can give only $2,000 to a presidential candidate in the primary and another $2,000 in the general election, according to federal law. Throughout the 2004 campaign — primary and general — Mr. Noe contributed $2,000. His contribution came in August, 2003.

It's quite possible that Noe was simply an overzealous activist who, on his own, ran afoul of federal laws regulating campaign contributions. But one must keep in mind the developments of the past few months.

• In August, Ohio's Republican Governor Bob Taft was convicted on four misdemeanor counts for failure to disclose connections to lobbyists.
  
• Earlier this month, the White House's top procurement official, David Safavian, was indicted in connection to the investigation of GOP superlobbyist Jack Abramoff (who himself was arrested for fraud in August).
  
• Last month, then-House Majority Leader was indicted for criminal conspiracy and was later indicted for money laundering. DeLay also faces questions about his relationship with Abramoff.
  
• Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist is currently being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission in regard to his sale of stocks in a company run by his brother.
  
• And of course, there is the Plame investigation.

So can President Bush and the national Republican Party extricate themselves from this scandal? Probably. But it just adds to the already lingering questions about their ability to run government cleanly and fairly.

Can the Ohio GOP survive this scandal? That's the $10-$12 million question. At the least, these scandals will provide Ohio's Democrats with their first real chance to win a statewide election in the state in a very long time, but the potential remains for a clean sweep next fall.