08-18-2014, 05:55 PM
RICK PERRY INDICTED FOR ABUSE OF POWER
![[Image: Rick-Perry.jpg]](http://guardianlv.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Rick-Perry.jpg)
"Ahhhh shit. This is a politically-charged witch hunt by those darned Democrats, I tell ya!"
A grand jury in Texas indicted Gov. Rick Perry ( R) on Friday alleging abuse of power in office.
The Republican’s conservative allies fired right back with their own accusation: This is a witch hunt.
Perry, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is accused of trying to coerce Rosemary Lehmberg (D), the district attorney for Travis County, who oversees an agency that investigates public corruption to resign after she was arrested on a drunken driving charge (HOTD: she was effin' shitfaced and driving with an open bottle of vodka when busted, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail).
Perry vetoed $7.5 million in state funding for her office when Lehmberg refused to resign, saying that he could not provide the money “when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”
One charge Perry was indicted on, abuse of official capacity, is a first-degree felony that could carry from five to 99 years in prison; a second charge, coercion of a public servant, is a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years, according to The Associated Press.
The indictment is a blow to Perry just as he’s trying to rehabilitate his image after a disastrous 2012 presidential run. But he also is the third major potential White House candidate on the Republican side — the others being Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin — to face legal problems at a time when no clear GOP standard-bearer has appeared in the run-up to 2016.
How much support Perry — who is considered a long shot for the White House (in 2016) — gets from fellow Republicans in the long run may depend on whether he’s convicted, and it’s unclear when a trial would be held. And privately, several Republican strategists predicted a rough road for a presidential candidate under indictment.
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/ri...z3AmVKPDNM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/t...story.html
-----------------------------------------------------
This makes Perry the first sitting Texas governor to be indicted in 100 years.
Some legal analysts say he could be in hot water; others say the charges are sketchy at best.
Perry has been governor of Texas for 14 years -- he holds the record. He announced earlier this year that he will not be seeking re-election in 2014.
"Ahhhh shit. This is a politically-charged witch hunt by those darned Democrats, I tell ya!"
A grand jury in Texas indicted Gov. Rick Perry ( R) on Friday alleging abuse of power in office.
The Republican’s conservative allies fired right back with their own accusation: This is a witch hunt.
Perry, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, is accused of trying to coerce Rosemary Lehmberg (D), the district attorney for Travis County, who oversees an agency that investigates public corruption to resign after she was arrested on a drunken driving charge (HOTD: she was effin' shitfaced and driving with an open bottle of vodka when busted, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to 45 days in jail).
Perry vetoed $7.5 million in state funding for her office when Lehmberg refused to resign, saying that he could not provide the money “when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”
One charge Perry was indicted on, abuse of official capacity, is a first-degree felony that could carry from five to 99 years in prison; a second charge, coercion of a public servant, is a third-degree felony that carries a punishment of two to 10 years, according to The Associated Press.
The indictment is a blow to Perry just as he’s trying to rehabilitate his image after a disastrous 2012 presidential run. But he also is the third major potential White House candidate on the Republican side — the others being Govs. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Scott Walker of Wisconsin — to face legal problems at a time when no clear GOP standard-bearer has appeared in the run-up to 2016.
How much support Perry — who is considered a long shot for the White House (in 2016) — gets from fellow Republicans in the long run may depend on whether he’s convicted, and it’s unclear when a trial would be held. And privately, several Republican strategists predicted a rough road for a presidential candidate under indictment.
Sources:
http://www.politico.com/story/2014/08/ri...z3AmVKPDNM
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/t...story.html
-----------------------------------------------------
This makes Perry the first sitting Texas governor to be indicted in 100 years.
Some legal analysts say he could be in hot water; others say the charges are sketchy at best.
Perry has been governor of Texas for 14 years -- he holds the record. He announced earlier this year that he will not be seeking re-election in 2014.