It seems strange to say, but the 64-year-old Governor of Texas, Rick Perry, has actually shifted a criminal indictment to his favor. He has been charged with two felony counts of “abuse of official capacity,” and instead the light is shining on the Travis County District Attorney’s office who has a history of indicting politicians.
Normally a criminal indictment would not be a net positive for a campaign, but Perry has handled this masterfully. A quick recap of the last few days.
He led off with press conference where he promised to fight.
“This indictment amounts to nothing more than an abuse of power and I cannot, and will not, allow that to happen. I intend to fight against those who would erode our state’s constitution and laws purely for political purposes, and I intend to win,” Perry said during his press conference on Saturday. “I will explore every legal avenue to expedite this matter and bring it to a swift conclusion. I am confident we will ultimately prevail, that this farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is, and that those responsible will be held to account.”
He followed up with a terrific interview on Fox News Sunday.
He is seeing an outpouring of support. U.S. Senator Ted Cruz called the charges “highly suspect.” Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal tweeted out his support, “The lawsuit against (Governor Perry) is a blatant misuse of the judicial system by liberal activists who couldn’t defeat him at the polls.”
Former Florida Governor Jeb Bush tweeted, “The indictment of (Governor Perry) seems politically motivated and ridiculous. Major overreach and an encroachment on his veto authority.”
Even Democrats questioned this indictment.
David Axelrod, former senior adviser to President Barack Obama tweeted, “Unless he was demonstrably trying to scrap the ethics unit for other than his stated reason, Perry indictment seems pretty sketchy.”
Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz who is a liberal Democrat said he was outraged by the indictment:
“This is another example of the criminalization of party differences,” said Dershowitz, a prominent scholar on United States constitutional law and criminal law who writes the “Legally Speaking” column for Newsmax. “This idea of an indictment is an extremely dangerous trend in America, whether directed at [former House Majority Leader] Tom DeLay or [former President] Bill Clinton.”
Further, Dershowitz said, such indictments are something that’s done in totalitarian countries and should not be done in the United States.
In such countries, “if you don’t like them, you indict,” Dershowitz said. “In America, you vote against them…this should be up to the voters. There is no room in America for abuse of office charges, and this has to stop once and for all. This is a serious problem.”
And indicting a politician, rather than fighting back through a ballot box, “is so un-American.”
Dershowitz also told Newsmax Perry was well within his rights when he vetoed the money for Lehmberg’s office, as he “saw a drunk serving as DA” who “shouldn’t be enforcing criminal law.”
Dershowitz believes Perry will be acquitted, and the indictment will become an embarrassment to those involved.
Yesterday he turned his booking into a campaign event of sorts with dozens of supporters coming out to the Travis County Courthouse.
Perry’s booking turned into a campaign rally. He defiantly said, “I am here today because I believe in the rule of law. I am here today because I did the right thing. I am going to enter this courthouse with my head held high knowing the actions that I took were not only lawful and legal, but right.” Perry said to supporters at the Travis County Courthouse.
“If I had to do so. I would veto funding for the public integrity unit again. You would think that any governor – Democrat or Republican would expect this important unit with jurisdiction over state officials would be led by someone who lives up to the high standards of conduct and personal integrity,” Perry added. “This issue is far bigger than me. It’s about the rule of law, it’s about the Constitution that allows not just a governor, but every citizen to speak their mind free of political interference or legal intimidation. This indictment is nothing short of an attack on the constitutional power of the office of Governor. There are important fundamental issues at stake. I will not allow this attack on our system of government to stand.”
“I’m going to fight this injustice with every fiber of my being and we will prevail! And we will prevail because we are standing for the rule of law,” Perry concluded.
RickPAC yesterday released a video called “Setting the Record Straight.”
This is going to end badly for the liberals who pursued it and frankly his stock has just been raised should he run for President in 2016.