Gov. Rick Perry to Turn Himself In
As of Friday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry became the first occupant of his office to be indicted in nearly a century, and as of Tuesday, the Lone Star State's top executive was ready to turn himself in to the local authorities as he stands accused of abusing his power.
Shutterstock
As of Friday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry became the first occupant of his office to be indicted in nearly a century, and as of Tuesday, the Lone Star State’s top executive was ready to turn himself in to the local authorities as he stands accused of abusing his power.
Perry will carry on with his duties in the meantime — although his schedule could include posing for a mug shot, as CBS News relayed that day:
Perry on Friday became the first Texas governor since 1917 to be indicted, and is facing charges of coercion and official oppression that carry a maximum sentence of 109 years in prison for carrying out a threat to veto funding for the state’s public integrity unit last summer.
Perry faces the prospect of being fingerprinted and having his mug shot taken when he turns himself in.
The governor has emphatically stood by his veto and denied all wrongdoing. The judge overseeing the case, Republican Bert Richardson, decided against issuing an arrest warrant and instead the special prosecutor appointed to the matter, Michael McCrum, was planning a simple legal summons. That still means a booking is in Perry’s future.
[…] A grand jury in Austin, a liberal bastion in otherwise largely conservative Texas, indicted Perry for carrying out a threat to veto $7.5 million in funding for the state’s public integrity unit after Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat, refused to resign following a drunken driving arrest. The ethics unit is housed under Lehmberg’s office.
No one disputes that Perry has the power to veto measures approved by the Legislature, but his threat to do so before actually carrying it out prompted a complaint from a left-leaning watchdog group.
Perry isn’t being abandoned by many of his allies in his hour of trial — so far, he’s been publicly supported by other high-profile Republican governors on the national stage such as New Jersey’s Chris Christie, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, and Florida’s former governor and enduring dynasty member Jeb Bush.
–Posted by Kasia Anderson
Your support matters…Independent journalism is under threat and overshadowed by heavily funded mainstream media.
You can help level the playing field. Become a member.
Your tax-deductible contribution keeps us digging beneath the headlines to give you thought-provoking, investigative reporting and analysis that unearths what's really happening- without compromise.
Give today to support our courageous, independent journalists.
With his focus on bipartisan, state-specific issues, the moderate Gov. John Bel Edwards gains a second term.
New findings from The Center for Investigative Reporting lay bare the corruption and graft at the heart of the state's voucher program.
The presumptive Republican nominee has built a career on bluster, branding and relentless self-promotion. These are useful traits for a vainglorious mogul. For a president of the United States, they could be catastrophic.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal was spoiling for a fight during Tuesday evening's GOP undercard debate in Milwaukee, repeatedly taking aim at his Republican opponents and attempting to lure them into the ring by criticizing their records as public servants. Frequently, they refused to join him.
Walker's folly was only the second-craziest notion on immigration that we heard from a flailing GOP hopeful over the weekend.
You need to be a supporter to comment.
There are currently no responses to this article.
Be the first to respond.