As a presidential hopeful and Governor of Texas, Rick Perry has been known to draw attention to himself through his conservative beliefs and opposition of the current White House regime. In recent news, however, the Governor is in “hot water” for local abuse of his gubernatorial power.
Last Friday, Rick Perry was indicted on two felony charges for attempting to coerce Travis County’s District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign. Rick Perry wanted Rosemary Lehmberg to resign after she received a DUI back in April 2013. Upon being charged with a DUI, Rosemary did not resign, however, she did serve 45 days in jail. Obviously not happy with the outcome of Lehmberg keeping her position as DA, Rick Perry was said to abuse his power when he vetoed $7.5 Million from the Travis County Public Integrity Unit. It should be noted that the Travis County Public Unit is an office that investigates criminal actions of state, local and federal officials. In fact, the Travis County Public Unit brought an indictment against Tom Delay in 2005.
Many people find this indictment “unconstitutional” because a governor does indeed have the right to veto. However, given the evidence that Rick Perry threatened to veto a bill before it even reached his office because of Lehmberg not resigning,a grand jury has determined that this is an abuse of power and coercion against a public servant. Moreover, given the long history of Travis County’s Public Unit and the corruption they expose, there is more than enough evidence that shows Rick Perry only vetoed the bill because of his history with Travis County and not because of his interest of the public.
Since his indictment, Rick Perry has turned himself in to the Travis County Sheriff’s department where a mug shot and fingerprint has been taken. Rick Perry has become the first Texas Governor to get indicted since James E. Ferguson, who was indicted on 8 charges in 1917.
While many people call this a “political stunt”, it should be noted that this indictment was brought by a Republican Judge who passed this case to another Republican Judge, Bert Richardson, who then appointed Special Prosecutor Michael McCrum . Michael McCrum was recommended to become a U.S. attorney in 2009 by senators John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison (both Republicans). Needless to say, this is by far not a partisan stunt, at least not from the Democrats end.
According to New York Times, this is one of the first time tax payers of Texas are funding the legal expertise of an official. New York Times reports that this figure is almost at $80,000!
Democrats shouldn’t get their hopes up just yet, this case won’t be easy to convict Rick Perry because honestly it’s never a simple task to convict a governor of any state! However, if convicted Rick Perry could be looking at 5-99 years (for abuse of official) and 2-10 years (for coercion of public servant).
Regardless, we doubt this is the type of spotlight Rick Perry seeks during his ongoing campaign for 2016’s Presidential election!
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