Perry's Attorney Calls Indictment 'Banana Republic' Politics
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The video of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg during her DUI arrest in 2013 shows a very unflattering view of the public servant. Lehmberg is shown yelling at guards and is physically restrained and gagged after not cooperating.
"We've asked you plenty of times to stop kicking the door and you didn't stop kicking the door," a female guard tells her.
A group of high-powered attorneys hired by Governor Rick Perry to defend him against abuse of power charges say it is the reason Perry had to veto money to Lehmberg's public integrity unit when she wouldn't step down.
And the attorneys say charges that the vetoes are an abuse of power are an abuse of the legal system.
"This is nothing more than banana republic politics," said Tony Buzbee, the lead attorney of the five lawyers Gov. Perry hired. "The charges leveled against the governor are a really nasty attack, not only on the rule of law but on the constitutions of the United States and the state of Texas."
The governor will not be arrested. But the special prosecutor says he expects to Perry to turn himself in some time this week and he will be booked. All of these events loom over Perry's political future.
"I think governor perry politically may be damaged," said political analyst Allan Saxe. "Because the word indictment has a bad connotation no matter what. And most people don't want to dig underneath it and figure out what that indictment was all about."
There will be a mugshot and media coverage will be extensive.
Already, the Republican governor of Pennsylvania removed a perry endorsement from his campaign website.
But there may be a backlash that works in governor Perry's favor.
"There's another side, though," Saxe said. "All of this could make him out to by a martyr and there is a possibility that a lot of republicans and strong conservatives could rally even more to his defense."
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