BREAKING: TX Gov. Rick Perry Indicted for Abuse of Power Over Threat to Veto Prosecutors' Funding

[Hissyspit]

Source: Associated Press

@AP: BREAKING: Texas Gov. Rick Perry indicted for abuse of power over threat to veto prosecutors' funding.

TEXAS' PERRY INDICTED FOR COERCION FOR VETO THREAT

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been indicted for abuse of power after carrying out a threat to veto funding for state public corruption prosecutors.

The Republican governor is accused of abusing his official powers by publicly promising to veto $7.5 million for the state public integrity unit at the Travis County District Attorney's office. He was indicted by an Austin grand jury Friday.

Perry said he'd veto the funding if the district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, didn't resign. Lehmberg had recently been convicted of drunken driving. The state's Public Integrity Unit operates out of her office.

When Lehmberg refused, Perry carried out his veto, drawing an ethics complaint.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/texas-perry-indicted-coercion-veto-threat

[tammywammy]

1. Just heard this on the radio.

Woo hoo.

[Loki]

2. I hope he's fixin to make his jail cell comfortable.

[tblue37]

36. Don't be silly. IOKIYAR, you know. Did Tom Delay end up in jail for

his lawbreaking?

[AlinPA]

71. Perry will walk, run for US Senate, and win.

[Berlin Expat]

3. All I can say is

<

>

[bluestateguy]

4. Is this a joke?

because it just sounds to good to be true.

And remember how Tom DeLay's case ended up.

Yeah.

[Gothmog]

13. DeLay's case is still on appeal

The Court of Criminal Appeals granted writ on DeLay's case which is normally not a good sign

[MADem]

46. No, it isn't--he's in the clear now.

Apologies in advance as I hate using the Moonie Times as a source, but this has a pretty detailed run-down of what the end result of Delay's case was:

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/sep/19/tom-delays-money-laundering-conviction-overturned/?page=all

[madokie]

61. I read about this in the Tulsa World newspaper

and about choked on the words. Yes he is in the clear, scott free, no jail time for the bug man. Having connections has all the advantages in our justice system. You or I would be so far back in the jail they'd have to shoot beans to feed us using a cannon if we did half the shit the bug man did.
How people vote for republiCONs is beyond me

[MADem]

62. And, of course, he's able to get his gun back!

About the only bright spot was that he was sidelined for a sufficient amount of time to greatly reduce his political effectiveness. And everyone knows this was a "win" on a technicality--he was guilty as sin.

[DonViejo]

64. He's still sidelined...

lost his power and influence in D.C. The only time the media quotes him now is when he makes some moronic statement like, "God wrote the U.S. Constitution." I believe the Bush clan was behind getting rid of DeLay (and I'm willing to bet ultimately behind Perry's indictment)

Grand Jury investigations and/or indictments are a fairly common way for a pol to rid him/herself of opponents, possible opponents or, someone that's a pain in the ass to the pol's administration. Boston went through this experience 20 + years ago. The then Mayor had polls taken which indicated the only serious threat to his re-election was a Black woman who was a state legislator and who had given up her seat to become a member of that Mayor's administration. Leaks about what the Grand Jury was investigating, who the witnesses were and what they were testifying about, were routinely provided to the conservative Boston Herald. The Administrator announced her resignation from the Mayor's staff and, shortly after the incumbent Mayor was re-elected, the Grand Jury investigation went away. The fact the investigation went away was never publicized. Ironically, the Mayor didn't fill out his term, he was appointed Ambassador to Vatican City by President Clinton

[Gothmog]

68. Delay is planning to run or was planning to run for his old seat

I live in Tom DeLay's district. DeLay was making noises about running again if he was off the hook. http://www.juanitajean.com/2013/11/15/some-rumors/ DeLay has to wait until 2016 to run again and an adverse ruling by the CCA would kill these plans

I will be seeing Juanita Jean this afternoon at a political event she is hosting

[valerief]

74. Oh, yeah, that POS Ray Flynn. All the flag-draping of a Rudy Ghouliani and

the genuflecting of a Rick Santorum.

[MADem]

88. You're talking about the insufferable and didactic Ray Flynn?

Good riddance to him--last I saw him, he was endorsing Republicans.

[DonViejo]

89. Yep, Ray Flynn...

and the Black woman is Doris Bunte'

[CreekDog]

90. so you're saying that the indictment was trumped up?

by whom?

[DonViejo]

91. My first guess would be the Bush family.

[Gothmog]

67. Since that report, the Travis count DA appealed to the Court of Criminal Appeals which granted writ

The Court of Criminal Appeals is the supreme court in Texas for criminal issues and has discretionary jurisdiction which means that it can accept or reject appeals. Rosemary Lehmberg appealed the ruling of the Court of Appeals in Austin to the Court of Criminal Appeals and the CCA granted writ or agree to review the appeals court ruling http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/texas/2014/07/25/12523004/

AUSTIN, Texas -- One of the state's most controversial political public figures in the last 10 years is once again back in the spotlight.

Former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay will go before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals as prosecutors attempt to reinstate his conviction on money laundering charges.

It's a case that goes back to 2002. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's office will attempt to reinstate DeLay's 2010 conviction and three-year prison sentence.

In November 2010, a Travis County jury found DeLay guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering in actions connected to his 2002 campaign. Prosecutors claimed DeLay funneled $190,000 of corporate money into campaign donations.

The Austin Court of Appeals decision was really partisan and weak. I am happy that the CCA is reviewing this decision. The CCA could reinstate the trial court ruling

[MADem]

70. As a result of that ruling, though, Tommy boy went from "convicted" to

"innocent" in the eyes of the law (and he gleefully telegraphed his happiness over getting his guns back, too). And if they succeed in reinstating the conviction, that just means the appeals process begins anew. He'll argue it all over again--it's like Italian jurisprudence down there in TX!

I think he'll be a very old man before they get a good pound of flesh out of that guy.

And isn't that DA who is trying to wrestle ole' Tom to the ground the very same one who had the DUI that Perry is trying to unload?

Curiouser and curiouser....it will be very telling to see which way this goes. If the DA prevails it will say a lot about the direction that TX is headed, politically.

[Gothmog]

73. The CCA still has to hear this case

The opinion of the Austin court of appeals was really weak and partisan. DeLay got one democratic judge disqualified so that he had two GOP judges on this panel and the vote was 2-1.

Yes, Rosemary Lehmberg was the DA who convicted DeLay which is why the GOP wants her out of office

[MADem]

87. He got his gun(s) back, though.

The effect of the ruling is that he became, with the stroke of a pen, an "innocent" man.

Who knows if he'll stay that way, but for now, that's where he's at...

[Omaha Steve]

5. Fix the link

PLEASE.

[SoapBox]

6. Great.

[uppityperson]

7. Here is a link from gd thread. k&r

http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/15/grand-jury-indicts-perry-abuse-authority/

[trueblue2007]

28. NY TIMES Texas Gov. Perry Indicted on Charge of Abuse of Power

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/us/gov-rick-perry-of-texas-is-indicted-over-veto-of-funds-for-das-office.html?_r=0



The investigation centered on Mr. Perry’s veto power as governor. His critics asserted that he used that power as leverage to try to get an elected official and influential Democrat and elected official — Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney in Travis County — to step down after her arrest for drunken driving last year. Ms. Lehmberg is Austin’s top prosecutor and oversees a powerful public corruption unit that investigates state, local and federal officials; its work led to the 2005 indictment of a former Republican congressman, Tom DeLay on charges of violating campaign finance laws.

Following Ms. Lehmberg’s arrest, Mr. Perry and his aides threatened to veto $7.5 million in state dollars for the public corruption unit in her office unless she resigned. The governor followed through on his threat, vetoing the money by stating that he could not support “continued state funding for an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”
Photo
Gov. Rick Perry last week. Credit Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

Mr. Perry’s detractors said that his moves crossed the line from hard-ball politics to criminal acts that violated state laws. His aides denied that he did anything wrong and said that he acted in accordance with the veto power granted to every governor under the Texas Constitution. Ms. Lehmberg resisted calls for her to resign and remains in office.

The criminal case against Mr. Perry began when a nonprofit government watchdog group, Texans for Public Justice, filed a complaint last June accusing the governor of misdemeanor and felony offenses over his veto threat, including coercion of a public servant. A judge appointed a special prosecutor – Michael McCrum, a San Antonio lawyer and a former federal prosecutor – and the grand jury began hearing the case in April.

[wordpix]

52. "Mr. Perry’s supporters said the accusations amounted to an attempt to criminalize politics"

The repukes are fine with suing the president but when a real criminal appears in their midst, they cry foul.

[misterhighwasted]

8. did the Bush Family Mofia just "Chris Christie" Rick Perry?

Jeb surely must be running in 2016...

[dixiegrrrrl]

32. Is Jed in Texas?

I do so hope he screws up, badly, in Texas. Soon.

[L0oniX]

9. I'm feeling all warm and fuzzy about this.

[Newsjock]

10. 7 to 109 years in prison if convicted

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/Perry-indicted-on-two-felony-charges-5691872.php

... The Travis County grand jury, led by special prosecutor Mike McCrum, indicted Perry on one count of abuse of official capacity, a first-degree felony, and coercion of a public servant, a third-degree felony.

The punishment range for the first count is 5 to 99 years in prison and on the second count, 2 to 10 years in prison,McCrum said.

[C Moon]

58. But what's the punishment for a govenor supported by billionaires?: zero.

[Gothmog]

11. Juanita Jean is going to enjoy this story

Here are her comments about Perry attending the Iowa state fair http://www.juanitajean.com/2014/08/15/rick-rick-no/

Deep breath.

Rick Perry hearts Rick Perry. He’s at the Iowa State Fair.

The Texas governor addressed the Iowa State Fair on Tuesday, and when the moderator thanked him after his speech, Perry reportedly said: “You’re welcome. I’m awesome!

”

No, no you’re not.

I wonder how the food tastes after this news

[NastyRiffraff]

21. Juanita Jean's current post:

As of 7:17PM EDT:

I’m on my way home. Will post soon. Posting from my phone while gleeful is difficult.

She's gonna have a great time with this!

[dixiegrrrrl]

33. Great minds..I went immediately to her page.

She says she will have a comment on her blog sortly..
"Posting from my phone while gleeful is difficult. " she says..

Allow me to help her be gleeful:

[wordpix]

53. someone needs to photoshop this with Bachman's corn dog photo

lol, whatta pair

[Gothmog]

69. How about this video

[TNNurse]

12. Did not think anything could make me smile today.

I was mistaken.

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. You want more smiles? Turns out...

Rick Perry knows the GOP has some ethics problems.
For example, their current candidate for Attorney General is being investigated for a violation of a state securities law.
So, Rick would love to put a safe Republican in that office.

from Juanita Jean's post.
http://www.juanitajean.com/

[BumRushDaShow]

14. Just saw the NY Times headline

[Omaha Steve]

15. Texas uses the death penalty ALL the time!!!

We need to keep bringing that up while this plays out!

OS

[radarluv]

16. Governor Perry's reaction too two indictments...

OOPS!

[LloydS of New London]

17. Please: can we respond to this news in a more sophisticated manner?

[BumRushDaShow]

20. Or better

[The Straight Story]

18. BREAKING UPDATE: Prosecuter confirms, Perry will be booked next week. @KVUE @Amber_Downing

BREAKING UPDATE: Prosecuter confirms, Perry will be booked next week. @KVUE @Amber_Downing

[Hissyspit]

19. Thanks.

[wordpix]

54. next headline: Perry now living in Mexico

jumps fence, crosses desert to Mexico to make a better life

[TwilightGardener]

22. Did they not care about his awesome glasses?

BTW, this is a busy news day for a Friday.

[OKNancy]

23. New York Times article

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/16/us/gov-rick-perry-of-texas-is-indicted-over-veto-of-funds-for-das-office.html?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.z_sma=US_GRP_20140815&bicmp=AD&bicmlukp=WT.mc_id&bicmst=1388552400000&bicmet=1420088400000&_r=1&abt=0002&abg=0

USTIN — Gov. Rick Perry of Texas was indicted on two felony counts on Friday by a state grand jury examining his handling of a local district attorney’s drunken driving arrest and the state financing for a public corruption unit under the lawyer’s control.

The indictment was returned late Friday in Austin.

The investigation centered on Mr. Perry’s veto power as governor. His critics asserted that he used that power as leverage to try to get an elected official and influential Democrat and elected official — Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney in Travis County — to step down after her arrest for drunken driving last year. Ms. Lehmberg is Austin’s top prosecutor and oversees a powerful public corruption unit that investigates state, local and federal officials; its work led to the 2005 indictment of a former Republican congressman, Tom DeLay on charges of violating campaign finance laws.

Following Ms. Lehmberg’s arrest, Mr. Perry and his aides threatened to veto $7.5 million in state dollars for the public corruption unit in her office unless she resigned. The governor followed through on his threat, vetoing the money by stating that he could not support “continued state funding for an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”


rest at link

[justhanginon]

24. OOPS!!!!!!!! n/t

[the_sly_pig]

25. Perry abridged the process for sure but...

A DWI from the leader of an office of Public Integrity? Lehmberg should resign, especially if she had to be convicted and didn't plead.

[BlueEye]

39. I agree.

She makes a mockery of public ethics, having served jail time and still working in that role.

Of course, Perry does too. The whole situation is pretty fucked up, to be honest.

[jeff47]

41. Thanks for the comment, Mr. Parry.

Minor problems:
1) The DWI conviction didn't legally disqualify her from the office. She plead, did her time, which was much longer than a normal first DUI conviction
2) There is a process to remove a DA from office. Instead of starting down that road, Parry decided to use extortion so that he could personally benefit from the resignation.
3) His veto didn't just stop the DA's paycheck - it stopped funding the entire office.
4) Parry was seeking to appoint the replacement, thus getting a very large benefit from abusing his office's power
5) Parry reportedly offered to get her a job in another part of the government, which is illegally profiting from government.

[the_sly_pig]

48. Are you being passive aggressive? Just curious.

I wish to see Perry relegated to obscurity as much as the next guy and I understand what Perry is doing; that is not my argument. If you're hired to lead an office titled "Public Integrity Unit" and get a DWI I have no sympathy for those that drink and drive. Resign. You've lost your law enforcement "integrity" once convicted.

[wordpix]

56. her staying in office is not the point---the abuse of power on Perry's part is

Don't muddy the water with her---she did her time. Whether she should stay in office is an entirely separate matter from Perry's actions.

[the_sly_pig]

57. Rick Perry = bad.

Abuse of power = bad. But rather than belabor the obvious I thought I'd throw in my opinion on this opinion website about the secondary character in the drama. I certainly didn't think it would cause other posters to think I was "muddying the water". Geesh.

[jeff47]

76. If the law agreed with you, you might have a point.

But a DUI conviction does not disqualify someone from that position in Texas.

Additionally, the DA did her time. That is far more than the vast majority of Texas politicians do if they get a DUI.

Lastly, looking at the DA is exactly what team Perry want to happen. They want everyone to be so busy focusing on the DUI that they don't talk about Perry using extortion.

Let's say a police officer comes across a robbery suspect. Instead of arresting the robbery suspect, the cop shots him dead. The cops will want very much to focus on the robbery. Clearly the suspect was a bad and dangerous person, so killing the suspect wa a regrettable, but good result. There'd never be days upon days of protests over getting rid of such a thug, right?

[the_sly_pig]

80. *yawn*...

[jeff47]

81. You can always tell someone has a strong argument when they provide such a pathetic response. (nt)

[the_sly_pig]

82. I was letting you know I was bored with your opinions... oh yea (nt)

[jeff47]

84. Bored people don't reply.

They just go do something else.

On the other hand, people who have run out of arguments do reply. With dumb one-liners in an attempt to deflect from their lack of argument.

[the_sly_pig]

85. Doh!!!

The irony cuts like buttahhh...

[kelliekat44]

26. Hmmm. Testing the waters for their suit against the President? nt

[Spitfire of ATJ]

27. Wow. So it's like Nixon trying to fire Archibald Cox.

[Brigid]

29. How about this?

[Jack Rabbit]

30. !!

[lordcommander]

31. OOPS!

[wandy]

34. Now if Rickey can just get away with this...........

Especially if he gets off on a technicality it will put him right back in the running for 2016.
Right up there with Christie and Walker.

Getting away with dirty deeds appears to be an admirable quality with the Teapublican base.
Shows leadership ability.

[SoapBox]

35. Billboards!

Man...what a site! Perry, Christie and Walker...mugshots on billboards nation wide!

One can dream!

[wandy]

38. Tanj! I can't wait for the debates. n/t

[wordpix]

55. Perry, Christie, Walker - who's next? Jebbie for his real estate deals in FL?

Certainly lots of corruption lurking there. Huge condo complexes went up while he was gov, and many rerouted wetlands and streams into golf course ponds. Wonder how all those wetlands violations were handled.

And that's just what I could see as a tourist visiting. What else lurks?

[wheniwasincongress]

37. Could this

impact the governor's race?

[radarluv]

42. It could if...

Someone in the media asks Mr. Abbott the right questions!
But let's face it, in a state that has elected people like G.W., Ted Cruz, mr. Gohmert, ...Abbott will probably get voted in anyway.

[Rhinodawg]

40. Hope he enjoys prison.

I'm sure the other inmates will give him a "special" hello.

[onehandle]

43. He's worse than Obama!

...tyranny-wise.

[Fred Sanders]

45. PDF copy of two count indictment:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/interactive/2014/08/15/indictment-against-texas-gov-rick-perry/

Abuse of official capacity and coercion of public servant.

[msanthrope]

47. Holy crap! nt

[davidpdx]

49. Until he's booked and handcuffed I reserve judgement

[DFW]

50. I'd be surprised to see this go anywhere

A Republican indicted for basically not going after corruption. Well, why would a Republican ever want to do that? Whom might he be trying to protect, DUH?

If an evil being like Dick Cheney walks around unindicted, then an oafish clown like our illustrious governor will not have much to fear from our "justice" system. An innocent, unarmed 18 year old in a St. Louis suburb has more to fear than Rick Perry does, no matter whether he's guilty of something or not. Let him get ridiculed by Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Rachel Maddow. Their barbs will hit home, and cut much more deeply as well.

[AlinPA]

72. Big money see to it that he is cleared.

[DFW]

77. They probably won't need to bother

Perry has already decided not to run again for governor, and the case won't have gotten very far before he's out of office. Plus Abbott will make a lot of noise about libbrul persecution of Perry during the campaign. He'll bring up the exoneration of DeLay, and Wendy will only suffer votes for it. Once Perry is out of office, and his presidential aspirations faded to "oops again," the story will run out of steam. So, I suspect, will the will of Texas to pursue the case against Perry. All he has to say is "what have I done that every Republican governor of Texas before me hasn't done with complete impunity?" When the answer comes back as "nothing," the case gets harder to prosecute unless Wendy gets her own AG, and she has to get elected first--looking better, but still an uphill battle we are not sure to win.

[AlinPA]

79. Looks like a plan for the TX GOP to get some votes for Abbott.

[DFW]

86. Partially

I think Perry is happy to try to make himself out to be a tough guy, in order to compensate in 2016 for his limited candlepower.

Personally? I don't think he lasts until 2016, and will end up finding himself on the board of 5 or 6 big Republican corporations, rich and forgotten.

[wordpix]

51. Rick Perry: "We don't want no public integrity here in the great state of Texas"

I hope he ends up in jail.

[area51]

59. (P)rick Perry is simply above the law.

Here he is trying to get out of a ticket.

[C Moon]

60. And he bad-mouthed and belittled President Obama after his visit to Texas regarding the border...

...what a class act.

[Stuart G]

63. k and r...nt

[marshall]

65. Alcoholics are routinely abused by our system

Attorney Lehmberg plead guilty and did her jail time--and has not been cited for drunken driving since the incident. She and many other recovering alcoholics struggle to maintain their jobs and their daily lives amid a society that is not eager to trust their sobriety. I am glad to see a jury stand up for her right to continue her job unimpeded.

[christx30]

75. I have little to no sympathy toward

Lehmberg. She could have killed someone with her recklessness and stupidity. I am by no means, a pRick Perry fan, but this person should not be in any position to prosecute others with a DUI on her record. The honorable thing she should have done is resign. If the drinking problem is bad enough that someone is driving while intoxicated, they need to get help. But she won't do that until she hits rock bottom. And losing one's job is probably a good first step in that.

[sendero]

66. If it turned out..

... that the Public Integrity Unit was actively investigating violations committed by Perry or his administration, and that Perry knew it and that was why he did what he did, then this could be explosive.

Failing that, this is a minor distraction that might derail his presidential ambitions (which I believe were going nowhere anyway, frankly) but anyone thinking this will land him in jail is engaging in wishful thinking.

They had Delay on much worse than this and he'll never serve a day either.

[evilDonkey]

78. Unfortunately I have to side with Rick Perry on this one

After watching Rosemary Lehmberg's arrest video I came to the unfortunate conclusion that Rick Perry was right. Lehmberg had to be removed from office by any means necessary because she was unfit to serve. This isn't a political issue. She is a bad apple.

[candelista]

83. I agree.

I don't care what Perry's politics are. This indictment is a shuck. He was within his rights to deny funding to this DA when she refused to resign. In Texas, a DA can be fired for incompetence, moral turpitude or drunkenness on or off duty. Check out this video of the DA under arrest for DWI.