Rick Perry has been indicted for allegedly abusing his power
Texas Governor Rick Perry has been indicted on two felony charges for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant earlier today by a Travis Country grand jury, making the potential 2016 presidential candidate the first governor in the state of Texas to be indicted in nearly a century.
A special prosecutor spent months calling in witnesses and presenting evidence that Governor Perry had broken the law when he promised publicly to nix $7.5 million for the public integrity unit, which is run by Travis County District Rosemary Lehmberg’s office, over the course of two years.
Governor Perry insisted that Lehmberg, who is based in Austin, should resign after she was arrested and pleaded guilty to drunken driving in April of last year. Lehmberg was caught on video at the jail shouting at staffers to call the sheriff, kicking the door of her cell, and sticking out her tongue. She served half of her 45-day jail sentence, but despite Governor Perry’s instance that her behavior was inappropriate, she remained in office.
Eventually, Governor Perry fulfilled his veto promise. While no one disputes that he’s allowed to veto measures that have been approved by the Legislature, the Texans for Public Justice government watchdog group filed an ethics complaint which accused him of coercion on the grounds that he threatened to use his veto before actually doing so in an attempt to pressure Lehmberg to quit.
This is the first indictment of its kind since 1917, when Governor James Ferguson was indicted on the grounds that he vetoed state funding to the University of Texas in effort to unseat faculty and staff members he objected to. He was eventually impeached, then resigned before being convicted, which allowed his wife, Miriam Ferguson, to take over the governorship.
Naturally, Governor Perry and his aides insist that he didn’t break any laws. After the grand jury was convened in the case, spokeswoman Lucy Nashed said: “The veto in question was made in accordance with the veto power afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution, and we remain ready and willing to assist with this inquiry”.
Read more about the story at NPR.
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