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Amid Debate Over Who Overstepped, Perry Calls Indictment a 'Farce' - New York Times

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Politics |Amid Debate Over Who Overstepped, Perry Calls Indictment a ‘Farce’



http://nyti.ms/1mUMDtZ






Politics |​​NYT Now






A defiant Gov. Rick Perry vowed on Saturday to fight his indictment for abuse of power, calling it a “farce” and a “political” prosecution.


In his first appearance since a grand jury indicted him on two felony counts on Friday for trying to pressure the district attorney here, a Democrat, to step down by threatening to veto state funding for her office, Mr. Perry said, “I wholeheartedly and unequivocally stand behind my veto.” He added, “We don’t settle political differences with indictments in this country.”


Saying he would stay in office until the end of his term in January, Mr. Perry said he would “explore every legal avenue” to fight the charges and was “confident” he would prevail.



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  • Gov. Rick Perry during a speech on Aug. 8 in Fort Worth.

    Gov. Rick Perry of Texas Is Indicted on Charge of Abuse of PowerAUG. 15, 2014




The governor, a Republican, was accused of abusing his power last year when he threatened to veto state financing to Austin’s top prosecutor — Rosemary Lehmberg, the Travis County district attorney — in an attempt to get her to resign after her arrest for drunken driving. The grand jurors charged Mr. Perry with abusing his official capacity and coercing a public servant.




Gov. Rick Perry of Texas greeted attendees at the Iowa State Fair last week. Charlie Neibergall/Associated Press

Mr. Perry was unsparing about her, saying she had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit. “Americans and Texans who have seen this agree with me,” he said.


The indictment on Friday marked a change in fortunes for a man who has been an unrivaled power in Texas. Throughout his nearly 14 years as governor of Texas, Mr. Perry has filled every position on every board and commission in the state. That amounts to thousands of appointments, from the most obscure positions on the Texas Funeral Service Commission to more influential posts on university boards of regents, all of them loyal to some degree to one of the longest-serving governors in American history and one of the most powerful ever in Texas.


But there were two things he did not control. The first was the prosecutor’s office here in the state capital. The second was the 12 seats on the grand jury investigating what critics said was his attempt to force out Ms. Lehmberg and shut down a potentially damaging investigation into a medical research institute that has been one of Mr. Perry’s favorite avenues for grants and jobs.


On Friday, like a plot out of Shakespeare, Mr. Perry’s attempt to control one of the few things of substance in the state that was out of his reach led to two felony charges that threaten to tarnish his legacy and derail his hopes for a second presidential run.


It was a stunning rebuke to Mr. Perry. But it also set in motion a battle of competing narratives over just what kind of overreach the indictment reflects. Democrats say the charges describe the arrogant overreach of a governor with unchecked power. Republicans took up Mr. Perry’s argument on Saturday that the excess was in the investigation and indictment themselves, which they describe as political in nature and extremely dubious in legality.


The thousands of appointments Mr. Perry has made and his longevity in office have given him leverage and influence in every sphere of Texas life. So getting involved in the aftermath of a local district attorney’s arrest was not out of the ordinary. In the recent battle between the president of the University of Texas at Austin, William Powers Jr., and the Perry-backed board of regents, people familiar with the situation said Mr. Perry was directly involved. Few criticisms or legal challenges to Mr. Perry’s actions or policies have done any significant damage to his popularity among Texas Republican voters, lawmakers and officials. Even after he stumbled on the national stage with his embarrassing first campaign for president in 2012, he remained feared and respected in Texas. But his critics have seized on his criminal indictment with a new vigor, saying it was a sign that he had been blinded by his own power. Democrats have already called for Mr. Perry to step down.


“It’s a reminder that there ain’t no cowboy that can’t be thrown,” said John Whitmire, a Houston Democrat who is the Texas Senate’s longest-serving current member.


Republicans defended Mr. Perry’s actions as lawful and said the indictment would not do any long-term political damage to him. They said the grand jury, in one of Texas’ few Democratic strongholds, had exceeded its authority and inserted itself into the world of politics.


“I think it is the view of Perry supporters that this is a highly partisan prosecution consistent with what we’ve seen from the Travis County D.A.’s office,” said Ted Delisi, a Republican strategist in Austin who was the national field director for Mr. Perry’s 2012 presidential campaign. “The Democrats in this state haven’t been able to defeat Rick Perry at the ballot box. They’re going to try to defeat him at the courthouse. I don’t think they’re going to be successful either way.”


Even if the legal consequences of the case ultimately do not amount to much, the indictment comes at an inopportune time for Mr. Perry.


Having decided against running for a fourth full term as governor, he has spent much of this year seeking to reintroduce himself to Republican donors and voters in states with early presidential primaries. Fully recovered from the bad back he believes hampered his 2012 White House run, and sporting a pair of new glasses that all but scream makeover, he has seemed determined to prove that a disastrous campaign signified by the infamous “oops” debate moment should not define his national political legacy.


Mr. Perry has repeatedly used the same mantra: “I think America is a place that believes in second chances.”


He has received tutorials from policy experts and traveled abroad. This month, he unveiled a political action committee, RickPAC, that will allow him to contribute money to candidates for federal office this year, a way to earn gratitude and stay engaged in some of 2014’s most high-profile races. It was also created to serve as a campaign-in-waiting, and Mr. Perry used it last week to release a web video carrying his response to the surge of Central American youths to the border and criticism of President Obama on the matter.


The border issue had been heartening to Mr. Perry’s backers in recent weeks, portraying the governor, they said, as an effective leader on a topic of great interest to conservatives. He raised it repeatedly on a visit to Iowa last week, drawing loud applause at a gathering of social conservatives when he said, “The message to the president of the United States is clear: If you will not secure the border of our country, then the State of Texas will.”


Mr. Perry has taken this sort of tough talk to Iowa in repeated visits. He has trips to New Hampshire and South Carolina, the two states with early presidential primaries, on his schedule for this month.


He was expected to make a particularly splashy trip to South Carolina, where he plans to attend the nationally televised season-opening football game between Texas A & M and the University of South Carolina on Aug. 28. Mr. Perry and Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, a Republican, have created a trophy to mark the new rivalry in honor of James Butler Bonham, an Alamo hero with South Carolina roots, and are scheduled to unveil it the night before the game. Mr. Perry’s advisers indicated that nothing would change regarding his schedule and that he would continue his presidential exploration.


Some Republicans in those early-primary states say Mr. Perry’s work has paid off, that he has begun to get a chance to make his case and that the indictment would not deter that process. “I don’t think a politically motivated attack — disguised as a very shaky legal case — is going to matter one whit in the caucus pre-season,” said David Kochel, a Republican strategist in Des Moines. “It looks to me like their case is more wobbly than the Democratic D.A. in her arrest video.”


The indictment’s more fundamental challenge to Mr. Perry is that it could serve as an unwanted distraction from his well-choreographed comeback plan. Should he become a threat in the 2016 primary, his opponents will almost certainly use the case against him with mailers and TV ads.


That is, of course, if Mr. Perry even gets to the point where he is a formidable enough contender to be attacked. Even as he has worked intently on reviving his image, he has been overshadowed by a new wave of Republican presidential hopefuls such as Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and a fellow Texan, Senator Ted Cruz. Even in Texas, Mr. Perry has seemingly been overtaken by Mr. Cruz.


But the history of Republican presidential politics is filled with comebacks — from Nixon to Reagan to Senator John McCain — and those candidates who have run before and learned from their experience are often rewarded with the nomination when they run again.


“The positive reception he has been receiving in primary states is the result of serious work since the last election, which is something this can’t undermine,” said Jim Dyke, a Republican strategist based in South Carolina. “How the governor and his team handle the next 48 hours and their ongoing ability to define this on their terms will be critical to his future political aspirations, only second to a decision by the court.”




Manny Fernandez reported from Austin, Tex., and Jonathan Martin reported from Washington.



A version of this article appears in print on August 17, 2014, on page A20 of the New York edition with the headline: Amid Debate Over Who Overstepped, Perry Calls Indictment a ‘Farce’ .




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