Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry is planning to formally respond to a judge’s ruling allowing a felony abuse-of-power case against him to proceed.
On Wednesday, Perry will read a statement surrounded by his defense attorneys at an Austin hotel.
That comes a day after state District Judge Bert Richardson, who like Perry is a Republican, rejected the former governor’s arguments that the case should be dismissed as unconstitutional.
Perry’s attorneys maintain he was within his rights when he threatened, then exercised, a 2013 veto of funding for public corruption prosecutors. That came after the Democrat leading the unit refused to resign following her drunken-driving conviction.
Perry left office last week, but may soon announce an expected 2016 presidential run.
His attorneys have already said they’ll appeal Richardson’s ruling.
(AP)
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2 Responses
If convicted his run for President is over, regardless of when the conviction comes.
If acquitted, it gives him favorable publicity and the “street cred” to attack big government using the justice system for political means – and if acquitted the closer to the election the better (as long as he settles it before the primaries, giving him perhaps a year at most).
I don’t like Governor Perry, but as a New Yorker, I am presently beyond his reach (and so are Texans, as his term has expired).
I also don’t like drunk drivers. But I am inclined to believe this prosecution is political and intended to embarrass him in his future political endeavors, if any. Of course, I think he is enough of an embarrassment to himself that the prosecutor’s action is unnecessary. If he wants to clean up his image, he should start with those faux-smart-guy glasses. Too fashionable to be believable.