Texas Gov. Rick Perry is now being accused of intimidating the grand jury members that indicted the governor on felony charges of abuse-of-office, reported Bloomberg.
The allegations were made by Michael McCrum, special prosecutor in the Rick Perry case. “The defendants own words have instilled a concern for all persons who participated in the grand jury investigation,” said McCrum.
Perry has been a presumed candidate for the 2016 presidential election, even though his 2012 attempt was a laughable farce only bested by the failure of Michele Bachmann. Over the summer, a Texas grand jury indicted Perry on two felony counts of abuse-of-office. The charges are related to an incident where Perry threatened to veto funding a Texas ethics task force if the program director didn’t resign after a drunk driving conviction.
Perry made the threats on Aug. 16, the day after after the initial indictment was made, during a press conference. “This farce of a prosecution will be revealed for what it is, and those responsible will be held accountable,” said Perry. This comment was taken as a threat to some.
“This comment struck many listeners as a threat against the members of the grand jury and all of those associated with the grand jury process,” said McCrum. “The state has a good faith basis to protect witnesses who appeared before the grand jury, who would similarly be in the category of those who would be ‘held accountable’ by the governor.”
However, Perry maintains that he acted legally as governor and can veto anything he wants for any reason he wants. Perry’s critics think the governor has political motivations behind his veto threats as the person he allegedly threatened is a Democrat. Also, her ethics committee was investigating a cancer research funding program that may have been “benefit[ing] some of [Perry’s] political donors.”
Texas attorney Tony Buzbee said the allegations surrounding Perry are “silly on its face.” He also maintains that Perry acted within the law when he threatened members of the indicting grand jury.
“The speech and debate clause of the Texas Constitution protects anyone acting in a legislative capacity, and when the governor exercises his right to veto, he’s acting in a legislative capacity,” said Buzbee.
For Perry to say that he will “hold those accountable” who brought forth the indictment sounds vengeful and vindictive. What’s he saying is that is the charges don’t stick, he’s going to use his power as governor to go after these individuals personally. Those sounds like intimidating threats very much in the same vein as his original charges. Perry needs to be thrown in jail.
