We’ll likely see the Tony Rudy pleading document later today, and in it there will be more details. For now, here’s some quick analysis:

Tony Rudy joins Michael Scanlon, another DeLay aide, in pleading guilty. These men, with Abramoff, are the key to taking down Ed Buckham, another former DeLay chief of staff. Buckham ran a lobbying firm that employed DeLay’s wife. He was also a very close (thisclose) confidante of DeLay’s, including acting as his “spiritual” advisor. Buckham and his wife, the Washington Post reported Sunday, reaped a million dollars in commissions and contracts from Abramoff’s fundraising.

Rudy is big on his own (he lined up DeLay support on legislative matters like online gambling with lots of money involved) but he is the key to even bigger fish: Buckham, and quite possibly, DeLay. Stay tuned.