The Perry Case : In America It's People, not Courts, Who Vote on Election Day

On Friday, the District Attorney’s office in Travis County, Texas, filed an indictment against Republican Governor Perry, charging he misused his powers by threatening to veto and then vetoing $7.5 million in funding for the office’s Public Integrity Unit after District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg refused to step down after her conviction for drunken driving. In a Saturday news conference, Perry said he stands by his veto, and called the indictment against him outrageous : “We don’t settle political differences with indictments in this country. It is nothing more than an abuse of power - and I cannot and will not allow that to happen.” ~~~~~ It's one of the occasions when all Americans - left and right, Democrat and Republican - agree. Senator Ted Cruz, also a Texan Republican, quickly backed Rick Perry, saying he was "proud to stand with the Texas governor in the wake of his indictment Friday. In a Facebook post Saturday morning, Cruz said Perry is "a friend, he's a man of integrity." But, perhaps the voice that carries the most weight is that of Alan Dershowitz, Harvard law professor and constitutional and criminal law scholar, who excoriated the indictment. Dershowitz told Newsmax he is “outraged” over the Perry’s indictment, saying the charges are politically motivated and an example of a “dangerous” trend of courts being used to affect the ballot box and politics. “Everybody, liberal or conservative, should stand against this indictment,” Dershowitz said. “If you don’t like how Rick Perry uses his office, don’t vote for him. This is another example of the criminalization of party differences....This idea of an indictment is an extremely dangerous trend in America. 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." 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 said that he believes Perry will be acquitted, and the indictment will become an embarrassment to those involved. ~~~~~ In his interview, Dershowitz said he would never vote for Perry, but he’s not alone among liberals questioning the indictment. Democratic pollster and analyst Doug Schoen told Newsmax : "I've never seen anything like this in politics. It looked to me like what Perry was doing was right, reasonable and responsible." Schoen cautioned that the Democrats need to be very careful of using the indictment to dash Perry's chances should he choose to run for the White House in 2016 : "It is one of the worst things that the Democrats could do: to try to go after a partisan Republican with a partisan criminal indictment. It is a further sign of really the destruction of our nonpartisan - seemingly nonpartisan - criminal justice system. It is very depressing, sad and just plain wrong." Liberals opposed to the indictment include former Obama campaign strategist and insider advisor David Axelrod, Clinton and Obama administration alumnus Jonathan Prince, Vox’s Matt Yglesias, and New York Magazine’s Jonathan Chait - all tweeting that they do not agree with the DA’s decision to indict Perry. Axelrod called the indictment “sketchy.” Prince tweeted that the indictment “seems nuts.” ThinkProgress, a liberal-oriented news site, questioned the indictment, saying : "Though the state legislature probably could limit this veto power in extreme cases - if a state governor literally sold his veto to wealthy interest groups, for example, the legislature could almost certainly make that a crime - a law that cuts too deep into the governor’s veto power raises serious separation of powers concerns.” ~~~~~ What are the facts behind the indictment? Special Prosecutor Michael McCrum, based in San Antonio, spent months presenting evidence and calling witness while investigating whether Perry broke the law when he publicly promised to deny $7.5 million over two years to the public integrity unit of the office of Travis County Democratic District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Why did Governor Perry act? Because Lehmberg pleaded guilty to drunken driving in April 2013 - with a blood alcohol content of nearly three times the legal limit for driving - but refused Perry's calls to resign. She served about half of a 45-day jail term while remaining in office. Perry contended that Lehmberg's behavior was inappropriate. A video recording made at the jail showed her shouting at staffers to call the sheriff, kicking the door of her cell, and sticking her tongue out. Democrat pollster Schoen said : "The Travis County District Attorney appears to me to be way out of line, especially given her own conviction for drunken driving." Other top Republicans also called for Lehmberg to resign. The unit she oversees spearheaded the politically motivated investigation against former GOP House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Several top Perry aides appeared before grand jurors in Austin, including his deputy chief of staff, legislative director and general counsel. The governor did not testify because he was not subpoenaed to appear, something rather unusual that was explained away by McCrum, who said : "That's prosecutorial discretion that I had." ~~~~~ Perry's indictment is just another of the many "witch hunts" by the county district attorney's office, according to former Houston-area broadcaster and GOP philanthropist Fran Fawcett, who told Newsmax : "The Travis County District Attorney's Office has long been trying to ensnare Republican officeholders." Fawcett cited Ronnie Earle, Lehmberg's Democratic predecessor who brought charges against DeLay. He also sought indictments against former GOP US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson when she was state treasurer, as well as singling out other Republicans. Earle first elected in 1976, was replaced in January 2009 by Lehmberg. Fawcett said that Earle was "unrelenting in using extreme tactics of personal destruction to try and smear Republicans. That his successors would indict the governor for exercising his legitimate power is simply more of the same. The real crime here is the amount of taxpayer dollars the Travis County D.A.'s office uses in its witch hunts," she said. ~~~~ Perry can legally veto measures approved by the Texas Legislature, including part or all of the state budget. But Texans for Public Justice, a liberal government watchdog group that filed the ethics complaint leading to the inquiry, accused Perry of coercion because he threatened to use his veto before actually doing so, and thereby was trying to pressure Lehmberg to quit. TPJ executive director Craig McDonald said of the indictment : "We're pleased that the grand jury determined that the governor's bullying crossed the line into illegal behavior. The complaint had merit, serious laws were potentially broken." In responses echoing what Schoen told Newsmax, other strategists warned that Perry's indictment could very likely bolster any presidential bid. "GOP state-level activists love nothing more right now than a leader with the guts to stand up against a system they believe is failing the people and protecting the elites," Republican strategist Bruce Haynes of Purple Strategies told Politico. He urged Democrats eyeing the indictment as a weapon against the hard-driving Republican Rick Perry to "beware." "Ultimately, this may not be a threat to Perry as much as it is a gift," Haynes said. Some Texas Democrats, meanwhile, called on Perry to quit. "For the sake of Texas, Governor Perry should resign following his indictment on two criminal felony counts involving abuse of office," said Representative Joaquin Castro, the Austin American-Statesman reports. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa told the newspaper, "Governor Rick Perry has brought dishonor to his office, his family and the state of Texas." ~~~~~ Dear readers, dishonor? It is on the head of Texans for Public Justice and its executive director, Craig McDonald, for twisting the common sense of the law deliberately in order to gerry-rig a complaint against Governor Perry. Dishonor? It also rests on the head of Special Prosecutor Michael McCrum for taking rhe TPJ complaint seriously and pursuing it with a grand jury. In the United States, political arguments are settled at the ballot box. Courts are not political decisionmakers. Americans make political decisions by voting, but their decisions are being erased by ballot box losers. This unconstitutional use of the courts to "get" political opponents will bring down the American political system if it is not halted. Rick Perry's case may finally highlight and end this insidious attack on America's Constitution.