Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Is Indicted on Charge of Abuse of Power

By MANNY FERNANDEZ in The New York Times

Gov. Rick Perry during a speech on Aug. 8 in Fort Worth. Credit Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press

AUSTIN, Tex. — A grand jury indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts on Friday, charging that he abused his power last year when he tried to pressure the district attorney here, a Democrat, to step down by threatening to cut off state financing to her office.

The indictment left Mr. Perry, a Republican, the first Texas governor in nearly 100 years to face criminal charges and presented a major roadblock to his presidential ambitions at the very time that he had been showing signs of making a comeback.

Grand jurors in Travis County charged Mr. Perry with abusing his official capacity and coercing a public servant, according to Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor assigned to the case.

The long-simmering case has 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 — Rosemary Lehmberg, the district attorney in Travis County — to step down after her arrest on a drunken-driving charge 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.

Read more at The New York Times

Author: konigludwig

progressive social democrat, internationalist, conservationist

2 thoughts on “Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Is Indicted on Charge of Abuse of Power”

  1. Perry has been giving talks saying that the GOP should focus on criminal justice reform. I wonder if the money is making them feel a little to awesome?

    Like

  2. What is interesting is that it seems like his own base is after him, not the Dem’s in TX. They are taking this very serious while Perry is claiming to be awesome.

    Liked by 1 person

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