Glenn Reynolds
Instapundit
8/16/2014
IT’S COME TO THIS: Mia Farrow: Rick Perry indictment ‘doesn’t identify a law he violated. Looks like politics not felony.’
Related: Dershowitz ‘Outraged’ by Perry Indictment.
Plus, an extensive analysis from prosecutor Patrick Frey. “Words truly fail to describe what an outrageous and unsupportable abuse of prosecutorial power this is. The special prosecutor, Michael McCrum, has no business being given prosecutorial authority — and the fact that Obama considered him for a U.S. Attorney position should deeply frighten anyone who cares about the integrity of the criminal justice system.”
Related: The Washington Post: Texas’ Perry charged with coercion for veto threat
…A special prosecutor spent months calling witnesses and presenting evidence that Perry broke the law when he promised publicly to nix $7.5 million over two years for the public integrity unit run by the office of Travis County Democratic District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg. Lehmberg was convicted of drunken driving, but refused Perry’s calls to resign…
Also at the Post, a legal analysis by Eugene Volokh: Is the indictment of Texas Gov. Rick Perry inconsistent with a Texas Court of Appeals precedent (as to the ‘coercion’ count)?
Axelrod Calls Perry Indictment ‘Sketchy’
…You would hope — but not really expect — that even Democrats would recognize the injustice being perpetrated. That’s why when President Obama’s former chief political advisor, David Axelrod, tweets that the indictment appears to him to be “sketchy,” it is a pleasant surprise…
Political Payback: Rick Perry Indicted in Power Struggle With Democrat-Controlled DA Office (video)
A grand jury indicted Governor Rick Perry Friday for his attempts to remove Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg from office after she was arrested for driving while intoxicated last year in a case that made national headlines.
In April 2013, Lehmberg was arrested after a witness called 911, describing her as driving erratically, swerving back and forth into the bike lane, and into oncoming traffic. Officers at the scene reportedly found an open bottle of vodka in her car, and a blood sample obtained later that evening purportedly showed a blood alcohol level of 0.239—almost three times the legal limit—even that many hours later…
…In Texas, the district attorney is the county’s lead law enforcement officer, and the Travis County District Attorney has the additional responsibility of prosecuting public crimes under the Public Integrity Unit, leading to a loud outcry for Lehmberg’s resignation from lawmakers and public safety groups…
Read the whole thing.
Jonathan Chait — lefty leftist Jonathan Chait, I say! — admits today that the indictment of Rick Perry is absurd. Don’t believe me? In a post titled This Indictment Of Rick Perry Is Unbelievably Ridiculous (yes, that is really the title), Chait says:
They say a prosecutor could get a grand jury to indict a ham sandwich, and this always seemed like hyperbole, until Friday night a Texas grand jury announced an indictment of governor Rick Perry. The “crime” for which Perry faces a sentence of 5 to 99 years in prison is vetoing funding for a state agency. The conventions of reporting — which treat the fact of an indictment as the primary news, and its merit as a secondary analytic question — make it difficult for people reading the news to grasp just how farfetched this indictment is.
. . . .
The theory behind the indictment is flexible enough that almost any kind of political conflict could be defined as a “misuse” of power or “coercion” of one’s opponents. To describe the indictment as “frivolous” gives it far more credence than it deserves. Perry may not be much smarter than a ham sandwich, but he is exactly as guilty as one…
Judge Jeanine: “The D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg Is A Drunk!” (video)
“A famous Court of Appeals judge once said, a Grand Jury could indict a ham sandwich. Now I believe in the rule of law, but I’m not going to sugarcoat this one,” Judge Jeanine Pirro said at the start of her opening statement, Saturday night..
“The indictment of Texas Governor Rick Perry for abuse of his veto power and coercion of a public servant – is pure unadulterated hogwash! It makes D.A.s like me cringe in embarrassment,” she thundered. “No one disputes that the law gives the governor the power to veto funding.”
“A little backstory, here…” the judge purred, signalling she was about to drop the hammer. “The D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg is a drunk!Yes! The chief law enforcement officer of Austin County (she means Travis County) Texas is not just a drunk – she’s a convicted drunk driver. She actually spent time in jail. Imagine! The chief law enforcement officer is a convict who served jail time!”…
Special Prosecutor Who Indicted Rick Perry Has Been Accused Of Misconduct In The Past
He was also considered on the “short list” to be an Obama appointee. So that should give you a good idea of what’s going on here…
Perry Only Latest GOP Pol Targeted With Phony Scandal
Who are President Obama and the Democrats most afraid of? That’s easy to see: Just find the Republicans they target with phony scandals…
…Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg is based in Austin, a hyper-liberal city, and her office led the probe of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who was convicted in 2010 on charges of money laundering and conspiracy. But those convictions were later overturned by an appeals court…
Rick Perry Faces Soros-Funded Indictment…
…Enter Texans for Public Justice, a far left progressive group with direct ties to the Texas Democratic Party and funded in part by such deep pockets as George Soros and the Rockefeller Foundation. The TPJ has been dogging all Republican officials in Texas for years, including then-governor George W. Bush. The attacks on Perry by this same organization began years ago, and with the dispute between the governor and Rosemary Lehmberg, TPJ moved quickly to turn the dispute into a full on legal attack against the governor’s authority.
The charges and subsequent grand jury was organized and controlled from the outset within Democrat Party-controlled Travis County. The entire episode has little to do with Rick Perry though, and almost everything to do with turning Texas blue and thus, ensuring control of every future national election…
…It is brutally dishonest and deceptive politics with national implications, and Rick Perry is now at the epicenter of this ongoing battle for America.
Rick Perry thrashes TX Democrats and Junk Indictment
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Update: Lovely. ‘Adios Mofo’? Say Hello To MSNBC’s Legal Expert For Perry Indictment Segment (video) Journalism, you guys!
Update 2: Patterico: My Email to Michael McCrum
The courage of her convictions, Mia Farrow Calls Rick Perry Indictment Political … Then Deletes Tweet
