Saturday, August 16, 2014

A Travis County grand jury on Friday indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts, alleging he abused his power by threatening to veto funding for the state's Public Integrity Unit unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who had pleaded guilty to drunk driving, stepped down.

It appears to those on the governor’s side of the argument that he has the right to cut the funding of agencies run by people who will not quit on his demand.

It appears to those on the prosecutor’s side that his funding veto and the threat that preceded it were an attempt to intimidate and coerce the office that has the job of policing corruption and ethics cases in state government.

The threat is the thing. Had the governor simply cut the funding without saying anything — especially in public, but even in private — this would just be a strange veto. That is not unprecedented.

But Perry did speak out. He decided that Lehmberg’s serving time for a drunk driving arrest, or running a gauntlet of public opprobrium that includes an eternal presence of arrest night video on the internet, was not enough.

That’s where this goes next: Why did he want more? The complaint against the governor came from partisans. That ought to raise the burden of proof, but the fact that his detractors would like to topple him doesn’t automatically make them wrong; it just makes their motives suspicious. They contend the governor’s appointees at the Cancer Prevention Research Institution of Texas were under investigation and that Perry’s veto might have hobbled that operation.

Mary Anne Wiley, the general counsel in the governor’s office, defended her boss after the indictment was made public: “The veto in question was made in accordance with the veto authority afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution. We will continue to aggressively defend the governor's lawful and constitutional action, and believe we will ultimately prevail.”

She might be right — that’s what trials are for. But while the criminal case plays out, the political case is already well underway. It started when the governor weighed in on the Lehmberg case. Questions about the propriety of that surfaced immediately — well before the veto — but Perry pressed ahead, knowing he was on a political stage as well as an official one. He demanded Lehmberg’s resignation and conditioned continued funding of her office on that demand.

She said it was improper and rebuffed him. He did what he promised and vetoed the state funding intended to support investigations of ethics and corruption and tax and other state cases.

Texans for Public Justice — that’s the liberal-leaning group that started this —complained to prosecutors, officially posing the question about whether a crime had been committed.

A special prosecutor was appointed, keeping Lehmberg out of the official proceeding, to take the case to a grand jury, a panel given the job of deciding whether the charges were plain political bunk or worth presenting to a criminal jury or judge. And that panel decided it ought to go forward.

That’s the standard recipe for things like this, except that this one is marbled with politics. You can’t take them out. They are at the center of the criminal case, on one hand, and run alongside it, outside of the judicial system, on the other. The indictment could do for Perry’s 2016 run what his debilitating back surgery did for his 2012 effort.

The governor is near the end of his term. Getting any of this into a full trial while he’s still in office would be extraordinarily fast. Expect instead a battle over the indictments themselves and about all of the things that will and will not be allowed into the trial, if there is one. Remember how Tom DeLay’s case dragged out, for one example.

This job is ending, but the governor is at the beginning of his next run for office, and the indictment is national news, like Chris Christie’s bridge. The governor’s supporters blame Democratic politics — Travis County is liberal, and the prosecutors are hard on Republicans, they say — but this is catnip for other Republicans. Perry isn’t competing with Democrats, but with other Republicans for the chance to compete with the Democrats.

Maybe his lawyers can get the indictment snuffed before there is a trial. Maybe there will be a trial, and a jury will find nothing criminal has taken place.

Meanwhile, the governor and others are already haunting Iowa, the home of the first presidential primaries almost two years from now. This indictment could be to the Perry presidential campaign what a sewer leak is to the opening of a new restaurant: The food might not be the diners’ strongest memory of the meal.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/15/analysis-its-not-crime-its-politics/.

Perry Had Already Faced Gap With Cruz in 2016 Talk by Aman Batheja Aug. 16, 2014

Perry Had Already Faced Gap With Cruz in 2016 Talk

by Aman Batheja, The Texas Tribune
Aug. 16, 2014

FORT WORTH — One week before a grand jury in liberal Travis County indicted Gov. Rick Perry on two felony counts, he and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz were in friendlier territory, speaking at a conference hosted by a conservative blog here in the largest reliably Republican community in Texas.

Perry walked onto the stage of the RedState Gathering to warm applause, his regard among conservative activists having been bolstered by his recent activity related to the border, particularly his decision to send National Guard troops there in response to an influx of migrants.

“If Washington won’t act to secure the border, as governor of Texas, I will,” Perry said.

Eight hours later, Cruz walked into the same hotel ballroom, greeted with the kind of rapturous cheers fitting a military commander returning home from a combat victory.

“The grass roots are winning fight after fight after fight,” Cruz said, adding later, “I believe we have laid the foundation for winning the war to repeal Obamacare.”

Perry’s presidential ambitions have since been overshadowed by the news Friday of his indictment related to a 2013 veto of funding for the state’s anti-corruption prosecutors. Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who oversees the public integrity unit, refused Perry’s calls to resign after she pleaded guilty to drunken driving, prompting the governor’s veto. Perry was indicted on counts of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.

Perry's office has said he has only acted within his authority as governor.

"The facts of this case conclude that the governor's veto was lawful, appropriate and well within the authority of the office of the governor," David L. Botsford, counsel for Perry, said in a statement. He added that Friday's action was "nothing more than an effort to weaken the constitutional authority granted to the office of Texas governor."

Cruz released a statement Saturday dismissing the charges against Perry as trumped up.

"Unfortunately, there has been a sad history of the Travis County District Attorney's Office engaging in politically-motivated prosecutions, and this latest indictment of the governor is extremely questionable," Cruz said. "Rick Perry is a friend, he's a man of integrity – I am proud to stand with Rick Perry. The Texas Constitution gives the governor the power to veto legislation, and a criminal indictment predicated on the exercise of his constitutional authority is, on its face, highly suspect."

Even before his recent legal troubles, Perry was already operating in Cruz’s shadow, as most conservative activists in attendance made clear they would rather see the freshman senator vie for the White House in two years than the three-term governor.

“When I look at you, I imagine you would be just like one of the founding fathers of this country,” a female attendee told Cruz after his speech.

The dynamic underscored a growing tension in Texas politics. As the state’s two highest-profile Republicans are contemplating bids for the White House, Cruz and Perry are at the start of a period where they are likely to be constantly jockeying for favor among the same audiences.

The legal troubles that have surfaced for Perry could scuttle his hopes of running again for president before they gain traction.

“This will — depending on how it plays out and how long it lasts — will certainly be detrimental to that nascent campaign for the presidential nomination in 2016,” said Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University said.

While Cruz is vying for the favor of Tea Party voters, Perry could still be a powerful draw to a segment of conservatives more interested in a candidate with executive experience, Jillson said.

“He’s going as an experienced executive, governor of the second largest state in the country with an economic success story to tell,” Jillson said. “And the immigration issue brings him to attention among conservatives.”

In Cruz’s speech, he promoted recent conservative victories in Washington, including the Democrats’ failure to pass gun control legislation after the mass shooting at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., as signs of a shift in the relationship between grass-roots conservatives and elected officials.

“I’m convinced the biggest divide we’ve got in politics in this country is not between Republicans and Democrats,” Cruz said. “It is between entrenched politicians in both parties and the American people.”

Perry’s speech was reminiscent of ones he gave during his 2012 bid for president in the way it focused on the robust Texas economy, and his belief that the federal government should follow the lead of Texas and other conservative states by lowering taxes and balancing budgets.

“You all know I brag a lot about Texas,” Perry said. “That’s kind of been part of my job description for the last 13-plus years. But frankly, we have a lot to be proud of.”

Bob Guzzardi, a conservative activist from Ardmore, Penn., told Perry after his speech that he hoped a man with his message would run for president. Asked about it a day later, Guzzardi stopped short of saying he would support Perry in a second presidential run.

“I liked the emphasis of what he is talking about, but frankly, I’m more of a Ted Cruz guy,” Guzzardi said.

Kathleen Wazny of Denton echoed a similar sentiment, praising Perry’s record and noticing an improvement in his delivery from his first presidential run. Yet there was no question whom she hopes to support in 2016.

“Cruz has been in Washington, and he’s seen the petty politics there,” Wazny said. “Running the chessboard in Washington is very different from running the chessboard in Austin.”

The enthusiasm gap even extended to Erick Erickson, editor in chief of RedState.com and the conference M.C., who seemed to favor Cruz in his introductions. While he praised Perry as “a man who, while the president is at the golf course, is leading the nation at the border,” he compared the excitement around Cruz to that of the Beatles and introduced him as “the leader of the conservative movement in the United States of America.”

As Jeff Tucker of Round Rock and Michael Pemberton of Radcliff, Ky., poured themselves cups of coffee ahead of another day of RedState panel discussions and speeches, they compared impressions of the day before. Pemberton described Perry as more passionate but said that Cruz’s arguments were sharper.

“I think of the two of them, together, they make one great politician,” Pemberton said.

He then wondered aloud: Could the two Texas leaders possibly run on the same ticket?

“I’ve thought a lot about that,” Tucker admitted.

But who should be at the top of the ticket?

The two men considered the question for a moment.

“Probably Ted Cruz,” Tucker said, his friend nodding in agreement. “He fights those guys. He doesn’t back down.”

Jim Malewitz contributed to this report.

Disclosure: Southern Methodist University is a corporate sponsor of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/16/while-flirting-2016-perry-cruz-woo-same-groups/.

After Perry Indictment, Democrats Look to Pounce

by Alexa Ura and Jim Malewitz, The Texas Tribune
Aug. 15, 2014

Following a grand jury indictment of Gov. Rick Perry on charges of abuse of power and coercion, Texas Democrats on Friday jumped to paint the longest-serving governor of the state as the standard-bearer for a corrupt party.

The announcement of the indictment breathed life into Texas Democrats who pounced on the governor’s actions and are aiming to make corruption a key issue in the upcoming general election. Democrats’ attacks on Perry and Texas Republicans come less than three months ahead of an Election Day in which they are hoping voters will elect a Democrat into statewide office after a two-decade electoral drought.

The Texas Democratic Party led the response to Perry’s indictment, wasting no time calling for his resignation minutes after it was announced as part of an investigation into his veto of funding for the state’s public integrity unit.

“There is a pattern of corruption on the Republican side,” said Will Hailer, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, adding that the party would take this message across the state. “I think it’s really important for voters across the state and for Texans to know what’s going on around in their government.”

Democrats had dogged Perry for months after an ethics complaint was filed against the governor, alleging he had improperly used his office to deny funding to the public integrity unit, which is housed in the Travis County district attorney’s office and investigates government corruption. Republicans have said the investigation was politically motivated.

Perry threatened to withhold $7.5 million in funding from the unit if District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg did not resign after pleading guilty to drunken driving last year. Perry eventually vetoed the state budget’s funding line item for the unit, and critics quickly accused him of using his veto power for political purposes violating state law.

On Friday, other prominent Democrats echoed the party’s call for Perry’s resignation. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, called for Perry’s resignation “for the sake of Texas.”

Ed Espinoza, executive director of the liberal group Progress Texas, used the indictment to highlight “Perry’s track record of insider conduct,” which he described as shameful and a reflection of “a disturbing pattern of Republican misconduct.”

He also attempted to connect Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, the Republican candidate for governor, to Perry’s indictment, questioning whether he had “advised or condoned” his actions.

Battleground Texas, the Democratic group working to make the state politically competitive, was quick to dismiss Perry’s prospects as a potential presidential candidate in 2016 and began using his indictment to raise funds.

“Rick Perry's indictment for abuse of official capacity and coercion is just the latest example of Republicans failing to work for Texans,” Jenn Brown, executive director of Battleground Texas, said in a statement.

But Steve Munisteri, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, dismissed the idea that Perry’s indictment could affect other Republicans on the ballot in November because he said voters would see the political motives behind the investigation.

“I think most people are going to see it for what it is,” Munisteri said.

Cal Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, said the indictment puts a cloud over Perry’s last few months in office. But he agreed that it was unlikely that Republicans running for statewide office would be affected by Perry’s indictment even if Democrats suggest there’s a “pervasive atmosphere of corruption in Austin.”

“Straight-ticket Republican voters will shrug this off and pull the same lever they intended to all along,” Jillson said. “I don’t think there will be a general revolt against the Republicans that brings down the ticket.”

Other Republicans who have also been indicted or violated the law have been unaffected at the ballot box.

Kay Bailey Hutchison’s indictment on charges of misconduct and evidence tampering as a Texas treasurer didn’t jeopardize her political future. The indictment came in 1993 – four months after she won a special election for U.S. senator. A jury acquitted her in 1994, and she remained in the Senate for nearly two decades.

After his indictment on charges including money laundering and alleged campaign finance violations, Tom Delay, a former Republican majority leader of the U.S. House, resigned in 2006 after being pressured by his fellow Republicans. He was convicted five years later. His conviction was overturned in 2013 by an appeals court.

More recently, state Sen. Ken Paxton easily won the Republican primary for attorney general against state Rep. Dan Branch after he was found to have violated the Texas Securities Act by soliciting investment clients without being registered as required by law. He is facing Democrat Sam Houston — who was quick to highlight Paxton’s violations on Twitter after Perry’s indictment — in the general election.

Jim Henson, a Tribune pollster and director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said the indictment could help mobilize Democrats in the coming months and give them an open to “hang Governor Perry around the neck of the other candidates and ask ‘Is this a pattern?’”

“This is yet another test for the [Wendy] Davis campaign and the Democratic Party over whether they can take advantage of an opening,” Henson said.

But state Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, treaded lightly in her statement in response to Perry’s indictment.

"These allegations are troubling,” Davis said. “And I have confidence in our justice system to do its job.”

Julián Aguilar contributed reporting to this story.

Disclosure: Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin are corporate sponsors of The Texas Tribune. A complete list of Texas Tribune donors and sponsors can be viewed here.

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at http://www.texastribune.org/2014/08/15/after-perry-indictment-democrats-look-pounce/.