Perry Defends Veto, Mounts Counterattack
Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Sunday stood by his veto against funding a state agency directed by a prosecutor with legal problems — a veto that led a grand jury to indict him on two felony counts of abuse of power Friday.
Appearing on "Fox New Sunday," Perry insisted he made the right decision. "I stood up for the rule of law in the state of Texas, and if I had to do it again I would make exactly the same decision," said Perry.
Perry continues to say that the decision to indict him is politically motivated, rather than an actual ethical violation.
"Across the board you're seeing people weigh in and reflecting that this is way outside of the norm. This is not the way that we settle differences, political differences in this country," said Perry. "You don't do it with indictments. We settle our political differences at the ballot box."
RELATED: Texas Gov. Rick Perry Indicted for Abuse of Power
He noted that even former Obama White House adviser David Axelrod questioned the move.
Unless he was demonstrably trying to scrap the ethics unit for other than his stated reason, Perry indictment seems pretty sketchy.
— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 16, 2014
However, the Democratic establishment took issue with the idea that the indictment was politically motivated.
"This isn’t a partisan witch hunt. It’s our legal process," Mo Elleithee, communications director for the Democratic National Committee, told Politico. "Governor Perry will have his day in court to make his case. But his bluster today doesn’t change the fact that a grand jury — not partisan activists — found enough evidence to indict him for abuse of power. And that fact alone is very concerning."
On Saturday, Perry called the indictment "a farce" and said he would defend himself against what he called a politically motivated prosecution. “I intend to fight against those who would erode our state’s constitution and laws purely for political purposes, and I intend to win,” he said, adding, "We don’t settle political differences with indictments in this country."
RELATED: Tips from the Ethics Committee: How Not to Fleece Taxpayers this Election Season
This article was originally published at http://www.thewire.com/politics/2014/08/perry-defends-veto-mounts-counterattack/378656/
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