2016 Postmortem
Related: About this forumJames Moore writing in Huffpo: Why Rick Perry Will Be Convicted
Posted: 08/17/2014
by James Moore
If the court of public opinion has an impact on a jury's decisions, Texas Governor Rick Perry may have a chance of beating his indictments. While poorly informed Democrats like Obama advisor David Axelrod call the indictments "sketchy," Perry's advisors have him concentrating on defending his constitutional authority to exercise the line item budget veto.
Except that's not what this case is about.
Perry is accused of using his veto authority to coerce a publicly elected official into leaving office. And when the veto threat, and later the actual exercise of the veto didn't work, he may have tried a bit of bribery, which is why he is facing criminal charges.
Not because he exercised his constitutional veto authority.
Some of the media appear to have adopted the Perry narrative that he wanted to get rid of an irresponsible Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg because she had been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol. Lehmberg, whose blood alcohol level was about three times above legal limits, was recorded on video as drunk and belligerent during booking. Perry is arguing he eliminated the $7.5 million dollar budget that Lehmberg managed for the Public Integrity Unit (PIU) because she was no longer responsible enough to run the operation.
But the governor probably had another motive.
The PIU had been investigating the Cancer Research and Prevention Institute (CPRIT), a $3 billion dollar taxpayer funded project that awarded research and investment grants to startups targeting cancer cures. The entire scientific review team, including Nobel Laureate scientists, resigned because they said millions were handed out through political favoritism. Investigations by Texas newspapers indicated much of the money was ending up in projects proposed by campaign donors and supporters of Governor Perry. In fact, one of the executives of CPRIT was indicted in the PIU investigation for awarding an $11 million dollar grant to a company without the proposal undergoing any type of review.
Perry might have been the next target.
more
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jim-moore/why-rick-perry-will-be-co_b_5686664.html
cheyanne
(733 posts)He saw what a mess Cuomo got for closing down his commission without a good cover story.
In NY, the US Attorney has taken over the cases of the commission. I haven't found any evidence that an agency in Texas has taken up the PUI cases.
Maybe someone can sue Perry for closing down the commission on the idea he was obstructing justice.
I think that is a better way to go: it's goes right to his motive.
I have found only one good legal analysis of the charges against Perry:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/
Please post if you find another site.
thanks.
Faux pas
(14,681 posts)ricky boy
deminks
(11,014 posts)LuckyTheDog
(6,837 posts)But he could not quite manage it.
SunSeeker
(51,574 posts)Vincardog
(20,234 posts)Bug man.
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Do tell...
flpoljunkie
(26,184 posts)Unless he was demonstrably trying to scrap the ethics unit for other than his stated reason, Perry indictment seems pretty sketchy.
He has more recent tweets in response to this tweet--as he received a lot of email complaints.
https://twitter.com/davidaxelrod
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)he's either trying to hang Perry or join in others getting him off the hook so he can run like the dumbo he is.
former9thward
(32,025 posts)Oh, that's right ....
blkmusclmachine
(16,149 posts)AlinPA
(15,071 posts)pbmus
(12,422 posts)Dopers_Greed
(2,640 posts)He'll be OK