Perry gains support from unlikely sources

Democrat Lanny Davis sharply criticized the indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry that was brought last week by belligerent drunk, Travis County District Attorney, Democrat Rosemary Lehmberg.

In an op-ed written in Newsmax, Davis, who served as Bill Clinton’s special counsel from 1996-1998, and is a top Democrat consultant, called the indictment “shameful” and a “perversion of justice.”
Yet we see the shameful indictment of Texas Gov. Rick Perry by the Travis County (Austin) district attorney because Perry vetoed funding of the public corruption unit. He did so after the district attorney leading that unit had pleaded guilty to drunken driving.

Whether or not Perry was right or wrong in vetoing that funding, motivated by good reasons or bad reasons, is not relevant. The voters get to decide that issue. But it is a perversion of the criminal justice system, a classic case of prosecutorial abuse, to indict Perry as a way of deciding the wisdom of his veto. Voters should decide that, not a prosecutor.
Davis specifically called out the Texas Democrat Party as being “outrageous” for the comments recently spewed against Perry in favor of the drunken DA’s indictment:
It is even more outrageous to anyone who cares about due process and civil liberties to read the comments from local and state Democrats in the state Texas Democratic Party about the Perry indictment. Most of the comments I read used language of guilt or a presumption of wrongdoing because of the fact of the indictment.

Have these Democrats rushing to make public comments any clue that a prosecutor almost always can, as has been said by many lawyers for a long time, “indict a ham sandwich” if they wish? The grand jury hears only a one-sided presentation of evidence by the prosecutors. No rebuttal is allowed. No cross-examination fundamental to due process is allowed.


“In fact, an indictment is evidence of nothing,” Davis wrote in the Newsmax piece. “It is literally just an accusation, not even close to proven facts. Yet I read some Texas Democrats calling for Perry to resign — resign!” he wrote with emphasis.

http://www.tpnn.com/2014/08/19/demo...y-indictment-withdraw-this-absurd-indictment/

 

This could very well hurt the Democrat party.

 

Is Gov. Rick Perry’s Bad Judgment Really a Crime?

Gov. Rick Perry of Texas is one of the least thoughtful and most damaging state leaders in America, having done great harm to immigrants, abortion clinics and people without health insurance during his 14 years in office. But bad political judgment is not necessarily a felony, and the indictment handed up against him on Friday — given the facts so far — appears to be the product of an overzealous prosecution.

For more than a year, Mr. Perry has been seeking the resignation of the Travis County district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg. He had good reason to do so: Ms. Lehmberg was arrested in April 2013 for driving with a blood alcohol level of more than three times the legal limit, and she verbally abused the officers who found her with an open bottle of vodka. She ranted and raved at the local jail, threatening sheriff’s deputies, and she had to be restrained in a chair with a hood over her head. She pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 45 days in jail. In addition to endangering people’s lives, she instantly lost her credibility as a prosecutor of drunken-driving cases.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/19/o...udgment-really-a-crime.html?ref=politics&_r=2