Saturday, August 16, 2014

This is why it's called Public Integrity

You don't need the truth. You just need the headline:
A grand jury has handed up an indictment against Gov. Rick Perry in connection with the investigation into an effort to force Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg to resign. 
At the center of the issue is a complaint about intimidation stemming from Perry’s threat to veto of $7.5 million in state funding to the Public Integrity Unit run by Lehmberg’s office. The threat came after she pleaded guilty to drunk driving and served a 45-day sentence; Perry called on her to step down but she refused to resign her position. Perry then vetoed the funding for the PIU.

The first count , abuse of official capacity, says the Governor misused government property by threatening to defund the Travis County Public Integrity Unit in June of last year after District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested for drunk driving.

The second count says Governor Perry misused his power by trying to coerce Lehmberg to resign or face the state pulling its funding from the Public Integrity Unit.
Gasp! Anything but that! Just so you know, here is Lehmberg, the dedicated defender of Public Integrity, when she gets pulled over:


And here is her epic performance after she's brought in. Pay particular attention to her gracious gesture at the end of the video:


Of course she should get $7.5 million. Why don't you understand her Public Integrity, you haterz?!

You might remember the Public Integrity folks for some of their earlier exploits, including their multi-year pursuit of Tom DeLay, the Texas congressman who had become House Minority Leader, only to have their work thrown out. Of course, the paragons of Public Integrity did bring DeLay's career to an end. It cost DeLay over $12 million to mount a legal defense. Of course, Public Integrity has a price.

And yes, Rosemary Lehmberg is still in office. She is the face of Public Integrity.

Bang, bang

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