The reported indictment of Governor Rick Perry stirred controversies and criticisms across the political spectrum.
James Richard "Rick" Perry, the current Republican governor of Texas is facing felony charges by the Travis County grand jury in Austin courthouse after being indicted for the alleged abuse of power of his office. He was faulted of forcing a Democratic District Attorney, who had been found guilty of drunk driving, to resign by intimidating to reject funding for state public corruption prosecutors.
On August 15, 2014, Rick Perry was indicted and had banned $7.5 million for Public Integrity Unit funding, a state public corruption prosecutors department currently investigating Governor Rick Perry's Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, after the head of that unit, Travis County Democratic District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's refusal to resign after been convicted for drunk driving and consequently imprisoned.
The controversial indictment includes two charges: a first degree felony charge due to the abuse of official capacity and a third degree felony charge due to coercion of a public servant. In 2010, the chief judge of Texas' Third Judicial District who presided over the case, Billy Ray Stubblefield was appointed by Rick Perry. The special prosecutor behind the indictment, Michael McCrum was appointed by Bexar County's Republican Judge Bert Richardson who was designated to handle the grand jury inquiry by Billy Ray Stubblefield.
The indictment stirred criticisms and controversies among Rick Perry's Republican supporters. They called the charges political and biased. Several Democratic commentators also criticized and mocked the charges and stated that the indictment is unwarranted and weak.
Rick Perry described the indictment as an abuse of political power and vowed to fight the charges. The Texas Democratic Party asked Rick Perry to resign in the midst of the allegations.
A product of overenthusiastic prosecution, Rick Perry's indictment was deemed controversial. Major newspaper agencies such as New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post and USA Today editorially considered the indictment as partisan and a weak blow. The charges are part of unhealthy trend of political issues coerced into courts rather than resolved by the voting public.
Texas governor Rick Perry reportedly surrendered to authorities at the Travis County courthouse on Tuesday, August 19 in Austin. However, controversies continue to hound the investigation whether Rick Perry's a victim of a partisan political witch hunt over the battle between policy and power.
© 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
