USA Today – by Rick JervisAUSTIN – Gov. Rick Perry, the longest-serving governor in Texas history, turned himself in amid the cheers of supporters at the Travis County Courthouse on Tuesday to face two felony counts of abuse of power.
He was not a contrite defendant.
“I believe in the rule of law,” he told the crowd. “We will prevail.,”
Perry, a Republican who is considering a run for president in 2016, has vehemently denounced the charges in televised press conferences and through his legal team. He is expected to make a statement Tuesday.
“Like a true Texan, he’s being pushed and he’s pushing back,” said Mark P. Jones, political scientist at Rice University. “He’s making a conscious decision not just to fight this head-on but to utilize the national attention for political gain.”
It’s the first time in nearly 100 years that a Texas governor has been indicted. The last one was Democrat James Ferguson, who was convicted and removed from office for vetoing funding for the University of Texas after objecting to some faculty members.
Perry’s indictment stems from the drunken-driving arrest last year of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who was captured on video berating officers following her arrest. She served jail time, underwent counseling and returned to her post.
When she refused Perry’s call to resign, the Republican governor vetoed $7.5 million in state funding for the public integrity unit overseen by Lehmberg, a Democrat. A grand jury found sufficient evidence to put Perry on trial on charges that his veto overstepped his legal authority.
The two felony charges carry prison sentences of up to more than 100 years, if convicted.
BREAKING: Here is Gov. Rick Perry's booking photo. pic.twitter.com/pNhdEnqBVI
— KVUE News (@KVUE) August 19, 2014
Perry and his legal team say the charges are politically motivated. They say he legally used his veto to withhold funds from someone unfit for office. Democratic leaders in Texas have called for his resignation, but people around the country have backed him. A rally of pro-Perry supporters was planned for outside the courthouse.
Barring a major flub, that support should continue, said Ross Ramsey, executive director of the Texas Tribune, an online political news site.
“It’s not like they’re walking him around in handcuffs and an orange suit,” he said. “This isn’t something that changes the story as it’s been developing the past few days.”
Perry, who has been governor for 14 years, has worked hard to resurrect his national image after an embarrassing end to his 2012 presidential run, when he lost his train of thought during a televised debate in the Republican primaries.
How the national scrutiny of this latest legal wrangling affects his 2016 chances remains to be seen. News of his indictment was met with tepid response from most Texans. The indictment may actually endear him to Republican voters, who could see the charges against him as political, Ross said.
“Perry’s completely killing them in the public fight,” he said. “His story is the story being told right now.”
” ‘I’m going to fight this injustice with every fiber of my being. And we will prevail,’ Perry said before walking into the Travis County Courthouse in Austin, where a grand jury indicted him last week.”
“Perry has hired a team of high-powered attorneys, who are being paid with state funds to defend him.”
http://www.aol.com/article/2014/08/19/texas-gov-perry-arrives-for-booking-on-two-felony-charges/20949414/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D517601
So he’s using our taxpayer money for his defense, because you know, that’s more important than funding to help protect our border from invasion. Unless that’s what the elite wanted.
Remember this post?
http://www.fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/texas-taxpayers-to-pay-perrys-legal-fees/85045
Yep. How can I forget.
A mere distraction for the Texans by the elite. Who gives a shit about Perry? The elite are just pissed off at him for not securing the border and allowing the illegals to invade the way they wanted to. I’m sure the lieutenant governor will help speed things up for them before the election.
http://kxan.com/2014/08/18/who-is-paying-for-rick-perrys-legal-defense/
Yep, this is to decrease state funds from Texas and destroy the funding of the troops at the border, while at the same time, punishing Perry for allowing it to happen.
Here’s the crew he’s hired:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/20/us/texas-gov-rick-perry-enlists-help-of-high-profile-lawyers.html?_r=0
Yep and all of them will drain the state’s funds real quick, especially if they try to drag this out for months using the media, in order to distract Texans from the invasion at the border. Wouldn’t surprise me.
NC, you can count on it it being dragged out and milked.
Rick Perry, how the F’ did he ever get elected? I believe Rick Perry would become the “Stupidest” President Ever slithering under the low mark GWB left on the office. “Well gee Goober, should I call in the Seven Sisters of Sleep on this one? That would actually be too smart for a dumbass like Perry to grasp. Perry seems like an opportunist with bad timing just stumbling his way through to the next free lunch ticket.
Yep. I still to this day don’t know how he got elected. Had to of been that “politicians aren’t elected, they are selected” thing that happened. Otherwise, I just can’t believe people are that stupid.
It is all about his “Connections”/$$$. I fully expect him to slither out of this, thanks to his cronies and their bucks.
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/washington/perry-moves-ahead-16-courtship-despite-indictment/mon-08182014-900am
This one has a more exact schedule:
http://abc13.com/politics/no-arrest-warrant-being-issued-for-texas-perry/268484/
Oh! So the bastard doesn’t get an arrest warrant issued, but if I did the same thing, there’d be an APB out for my arrest in no time with SWAT surrounding my house and ready to invade. I see how it is. Because he’s the governor, that makes him “Above the law”.
HANG ‘EM ALL!!! 😡
Plus, I read that he will not be appearing in court on Friday (in fact, they pushed the date back and he Still won’t appear).
http://kxan.com/2014/08/18/a-rick-perry-mug-shot-unlikely/
The trip to China and Japan also gets me going… GRRR
Are you telling me he has two felony charges (meaning mandatory prison time) and he’s still the governor and able to go to China and Japan? Are you F**king kidding me?!!!
Unfrigginbelievable…….
Guess I shouldn’t be surprised, given that Barry is still sitting in our Oval office.
“Later this month, Perry is expected at a larger Americans for Prosperity gathering in Dallas, which will also feature Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Then he plans to be in South Carolina on Aug. 27-28 for appearances that include a college football game at the University of South Carolina against Texas A&M, Perry’s alma mater.
Perry is scheduled to return to Iowa, home of the nation’s leadoff presidential caucuses, on Sept. 1-2, and then departs on a weeklong Texas trade mission to Japan and China, which will include stops in Beijing and the World Economic Forum in Tianjin.”
Can we hang ’em all, yet?
Perry’s grin in his booking photo reminds me of Tom Delay’s grin in his booking photo.
“Perry, a Republican who is considering a run for president in 2016,…”
Someone just threw a giant monkey wrench into that plan.
This is one of those PR stunts to prove to the American public (the sheeple, anyway) that the ‘system’ DOES work.
More distraction.
So this guy got to wank in to answer to charges of felony?
Have to remember that the next time they claim a no knock raid was necessary.