UPDATE: I’ve included a link to the indictments at the bottom of this post.
Thought Texas politics couldn’t get any weirder? A short time ago special prosecutor Michael McCrum announced that a grand jury had indicted Perry on two counts related to his veto of funds for the Public Integrity Unit: coercion of a public official and abuse of official capacity, both of which are felonies. Rosemary Lehmberg, the embattled Travis County district attorney who was involved in an embarrassing drunken driving case last year, argued that Perry’s actions amounted to political retribution because her office, which receives state funding for the PIU, oversees that investigative unit. Perry countered that the veto was a result of the fact that Lehmberg had lost the public’s confidence in her ability to do her job. The governor’s office just released the following statement:
“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.”
Here is a copy of the indictment: http://www.scribd.com/doc/236934485/Texas-Gov-Rick-Perry-grand-jury-indictment
