Rick Perry Dismantled Texas’ Public Integrity Unit. Now He’s Facing a Grand Jury.
After Lehmberg’s arrest, Perry called for her resignation, claiming that the public could no longer place its trust in an official who herself ran afoul of the law. But the governor has no direct control over her job, a locally-elected position, and a grand jury rejected a former opponent’s attempt to have Lehmberg removed from office. For her part, Lehmberg refused to resign, though she said she won’t run for reelection in 2016. That wasn’t enough for Perry. With Lehmberg holding on to her job, the governor decided to cut off the two-year $7.5 million in state funding for the watchdog unit with a line-item veto. “Despite the otherwise good work the Public Integrity Unit’s employees,” a Perry statement said after the veto, “I cannot in good conscience support continued State funding for an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”
Texas governors have wide discretion to veto legislation. But by publicly tying his veto of the unit’s funding to his effort to push Lehmberg from office, Perry may have run afoul of state rules that prohibit coercion or bribery of public officials. Texans for Public Justice (TPJ) a liberal-leaning good government group, filed a complaint against Perry last June, and a special prosecutor was assigned to the case. “Threatening to take an official action against her office unless she voluntarily resigns is likely illegal,” Craig McDonald, director of TPJ, said in a statement. “The governor overstepped his authority by sticking his nose in Travis County’s business.” Perry has retained a defense lawyer and stands by his veto, with his lawyer claiming that the decision was within the law.
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