Texas governor indicted over 'abuse of power'

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Agence France Presse


http://i.imgur.com/Umd8EtJ.jpg

Washington (AFP) - Texas Governor Rick Perry, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, was indicted Friday over allegations he abused his power, prompting calls for him to resign.

A state grand jury in Austin indicted Perry on two felony charges -- abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant -- for his alleged threat to veto $7.5 million in state funding to an anti-corruption unit run by Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a democrat.

After Lehmberg was convicted of drunken driving, Perry said he would withhold the funding if she did not step down.

When Lehmberg refused to leave her office, Perry carried out his veto, but it is the apparent threat that has landed him in hot water.

Perry's general counsel, Mary Anne Wiley, said: "The veto in question was made in accordance with the veto authority afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution."

"We will continue to aggressively defend the governor's lawful and constitutional action, and believe we will ultimately prevail," she added in a widely cited statement.

Lehmberg declined to comment on the indictment, which immediately triggered calls by rival Democrats for Perry to quit.

"We call on Governor Perry to immediately step down from office," Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said.

"Texans deserve real leadership and this is unbecoming of our governor."

The Texans for Public Justice watchdog group, which filed a complaint in the case, said "the grand jury decided Perry's bullying crossed the line into law breaking."

"Any gov under felony indictment should consider stepping aside," it added in a tweet.

Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, took office in 2000 and is due to end his term this year.

But the investigation and the indictment could ruin his chances for a 2016 White House bid, following his failed attempt in 2012.

[RBP]

This seems silly to me.

[RBP]

This Indictment Of Rick Perry Is Unbelievably Ridiculous

They say a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and this always seemed like hyperbole, until Friday night a Texas grand jury announced an indictment of governor Rick Perry. The “crime” for which Perry faces a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison is vetoing funding for a state agency. The conventions of reporting — which treat the fact of an indictment as the primary news, and its merit as a secondary analytic question — make it difficult for people reading the news to grasp just how farfetched this indictment is.

Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg — a Democrat who oversees the state’s Public Corruption unit — was arrested for driving very, very drunk. What followed was a relatively ordinary political dispute. Perry, not unreasonably, urged Lehmberg to resign. Democrats, not unreasonably, resisted out of fear that Perry would replace her with a Republican. Perry, not unreasonably, announced and carried out a threat to veto funding for her agency until Lehmberg resigned.

I do not have a fancy law degree from Harvard or Yale or, for that matter, anywhere. I am but a humble country blogger. And yet, having read the indictment, legal training of any kind seems unnecessary to grasp its flimsiness.

Perry stands accused of violating two laws. One is a statute defining as an offense “misus[ing] government property, services, personnel, or any other thing of value belonging to the government that has come into the public servant's custody or possession by virtue of the public servant's office or employment.” The veto threat, according to the prosecutor, amounted to a “misuse.” Why? That is hard to say.

The other statute prohibits anybody in government from “influenc[ing] or attempt[ing] to influence a public servant in a specific exercise of his official power or a specific performance of his official duty or influenc[ing] or attempt[ing] to influence a public servant to violate the public servant's known legal duty.”

But that statute also specifically exempts “an official action taken by the member of the governing body.” The prosecutors claim that, while vetoing the bill may be an official action, threatening a veto is not. Of course the threat of the veto is an integral part of its function. The legislature can hardly negotiate with the governor if he won’t tell them in advance what he plans to veto. This is why, when you say the word “veto,” the next word that springs to mind is “threat.” That’s how vetoes work.

The theory behind the indictment is flexible enough that almost any kind of political conflict could be defined as a “misuse” of power or “coercion” of one’s opponents. To describe the indictment as “frivolous” gives it far more credence than it deserves. Perry may not be much smarter than a ham sandwich, but he is exactly as guilty as one.

http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/08/rick-perry-indictment-is-unbelievably-ridiculous.html

[Loser]

This is nothing more then a political ploy by democRats to ruin his chances at a presidential bid.

No more, no less.

[KevinD]

That indeed is all it is. That being said, I hope the Republican party can nominee someone better than Perry.

[Loser]

That indeed is all it is. That being said, I hope the Republican party can nominee someone better than Perry or Fatty.

Fixed. :lol: