Happy ending

Excerpt:

"The state’s top criminal court on Wednesday threw out the remaining criminal charge against Rick Perry, sparing the former governor from trial and a potential prison sentence on a felony charge of misusing the power of his office.

The charge, related to Perry’s 2013 threat to veto money for Travis County prosecutors in an attempt to force District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg from office, violated the Texas Constitution’s separation of powers provision by improperly limiting the governor’s veto authority, the Court of Criminal Appeals said in a ruling from which two of eight judges dissented.

“The constitution does not purport to impose any restriction on the veto power based on the reason for the veto, and it does not purport to allow any other substantive limitations to be placed on the use of a veto,” said the opinion by Presiding Judge Sharon Keller.

“The governor’s power to exercise a veto may not be circumscribed by the Legislature, by the courts, or by district attorneys,” Keller wrote. “When the only act that is being prosecuted is a veto, then the prosecution itself violates separation of powers."

The court also spared Perry from a second felony charge of coercion of a public official, ruling that a lower court correctly tossed out the law last summer as unconstitutionally vague and a violation of free speech rights.

Wednesday’s ruling brought an abrupt end to the politically charged legal troubles that have dogged Perry for 18 months, looming over the closing months of his 14 years in office and casting a pall over his second unsuccessful run for president."

http://www.statesman.com/news/news/appeals-court-dismisses-rick-perrys-criminal-case/nqXG5/

Perry Announcement

"Rick Perry might go away for a long, long time: What even the liberal media isn’t reporting about his indictment"

"Strupp also spoke with Morning News columnist Wayne Slater: “Many reporters in Texas know Perry and are much more familiar with the details in this case, the fact that these are Republicans investigating this and that Perry has a history of hardball politics in forcing people out,” Slater said. “This is a much more nuanced story than some in the Beltway understand.”

...1)  The indictment was not brought by the Tavis County DA. Nor were any other Democrats involved. It’s worth quoting at length from Smith at the Texas Tribune:

Not a single Democratic official was involved at any point in the process, except to recuse him or herself. That’s what the victim of Perry’s “offers,” Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, did. So did District Judge Julie Kocurek.

Kocurek referred the criminal complaint to Judge Billy Ray Stubblefield, a Republican and Perry appointee. Stubblefield could have dismissed the complaint. Instead, he assigned it to Judge Bert Richardson, also a Republican. He, too, could have dismissed the complaint. Instead, he appointed conservative, well-respected former federal prosecutor McCrum as special prosecutor. Republican U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey Hutchison once recommended McCrum for the job of U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas. McCrum could have dismissed the complaint. Instead, he took it to a grand jury."

-Salon 

"Texas Governor Rick Perry indicted by grand jury"

"A grand jury has handed up an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry in connection with the investigation into an effort to force Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign."

The Texas Governor was indicted on counts of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.

At the center of the issue is a complaint about intimidation stemming from Perry’s threat to veto of $7.5 million in state funding to the Public Integrity Unit run by Lehmberg’s office. The threat came after she pleaded guilty to drunk driving and served a 45-day sentence; Perry called on her to step down but she refused to resign her position. Perry then vetoed the funding for the PIU.

The first count , abuse of official capacity, says the Governor misused government property by threatening to defund the Travis County Public Integrity Unit in June of last year after District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested for drunk driving.

The second count says Governor Perry misused his power by trying to coerce Lehmberg to resign or face the state pulling its funding from the Public Integrity Unit.

A grand jury was called to determine whether or not Perry broke the law when he threatened to veto the funding. As a result they issued indictments on two felony charges. If found guilty on the charges, Perry could be sentenced to a maximum 109 years in prison. (read more)

Gov. Perry sending National Guard to border

"[According to a not yet released memo] Texas Gov. Rick Perry plans to announce he will activate the Texas National Guard at a news conference Monday in Austin, said state Sen. Juan “Chuy” Hinojosa, D-McAllen. 

...Troops are expected to enter the area gradually, building up to 1,000 after about a month, the memo said.

...State leaders approved funding for extra DPS troopers to fill in gaps in Border Patrol coverage in the Valley as the federal authorities were overwhelmed with an influx of children and families from Central America. The state officials feared Mexican drug cartels might exploit the situation to move their own drugs and human contraband while Border Patrol attention was turned elsewhere.

Hinojosa said Perry's move smacked of political gamesmanship.

“All these politicians coming down to border, they don't care about solving the problem, they just want to make a political point,” he said.

“This is not a militarization of the border,” the memo states. “The DPS and the National Guard are working to keep any drug and human trafficking south of (U.S. Highway) 83 and with the goal of keeping any smuggling from entering major highways to transport East/West/and North.”

...“It is not clear where the money will come from in the budget,” the memo states, adding that Perry's office has said the money will come from “non critical” areas, such as health care or transportation.

Hinojosa said the National Guard was not equipped to aid immigrants crossing the Rio Grande.

“They (cartels) are taking advantage of the situation,” he said. “But our local law enforcement from the sheriff’s offices of the different counties to the different police departments are taking care of the situation. This is a civil matter, not a military matter. What we need is more resources to hire more deputies, hire more Border Patrol.

“These are young people, just families coming across. They're not armed. They're not carrying weapons.”"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Do you agree with Texas state senator Hinojosa that 1) National Guard troops are not equipped to aid immigrants crossing the Rio Grande, and 2) that resources should be diverted to hiring more deputies and Border Patrol, because this is a civil, not a military matter?

The Monitor via Memeorandum

RTT News: "Rick Perry and Rand Paul squared off in dueling U.S. foreign policy op-ed"

"As a veteran, and as a governor who has supported Texas National Guard deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, I can understand the emotions behind isolationism," Perry wrote.

He added, "Many people are tired of war, and the urge to pull back is a natural, human reaction. Unfortunately, we live in a world where isolationist policies would only endanger our national security even further."

Perry claimed that Paul seems "curiously blind" to the national security threat posed by the group now calling itself the Islamic State, which controls significant territory in Iraq and Syria.

"Ignoring the growth of the Islamic State and events in Syria and Iraq will only ensure that the problem will fester and grow," Perry wrote. "The United States needs to take seriously the threat this presents to our nation."

However, Paul shot back in a separate op-ed piece posted by Politico on Monday, accusing Perry of mischaracterizing his views on foreign policy.

"There are many things I like about Texas Gov. Rick Perry, including his stance on the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution," Paul wrote. "But apparently his new glasses haven't altered his perception of the world, or allowed him to see it any more clearly."

"I support continuing our assistance to the government of Iraq, which include armaments and intelligence," Paul wrote. "I support using advanced technology to prevent ISIS from becoming a threat."

"I also want to stop sending U.S. aid and arms to Islamic rebels in Syria who are allied with ISIS, something Perry doesn't even address," he added. "I would argue that if anything, my ideas for this crisis are both stronger, and not rooted simply in bluster."

A recent Quinnipiac University National Poll showed Paul with a slight lead in the race for the GOP nomination, with 11 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters saying they support the Kentucky Senator.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush were all tied for second at 10 percent, while Perry was toward the bottom of the list a 3 percent.

President to meet with Gov. Perry for border discussion

"Gov. Rick Perry turned down what he characterized as President Barack Obama’s offer for a “quick handshake on the Tarmac” when the president arrives in Austin on Wednesday. But Perry said he would juggle his schedule to accommodate a “substantive meeting” with Obama on border security any time during his two-day visit to Texas.

Late Monday, Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Obama, replied to Perry affirmatively, saying, “The president would welcome a meeting with you while he is in Texas.”

In the two-page letter obtained first by the American-Statesman, Jarrett also invited Perry to join faith leaders and local elected officials for a round table discussion on the border that has been added to the president’s schedule while he is in Dallas on Wednesday. It wasn’t immediately clear how Perry would respond.

The president is spending two days in Texas, raising money for national Democratic coffers in Dallas on Wednesday and in Austin on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning. His only public event in Austin will be a discussion of the economy at the Paramount Theater on Congress Avenue on mid-day Thursday. There was no plan to visit the southern border while in Texas, but the newly-added Dallas round table means that he will be addressing the issue of illegal immigration head-on while in the state."