Rosemary Lehmberg
Texas Gov. Rick Perry has hired a high-profile Austin defense lawyer to represent him in an investigation into whether he illegally withheld money from the Travis County District Attorney’s office.
KVUE News and the Austin American-Statesman confirmed Sunday evening the hiring of David L. Botsford.
The hiring comes as a special Travis County grand jury is set to be seated Monday to hear evidence into whether Perry broke state laws concerning bribery, coercion and abuse of authority.
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Botsford said Sunday night, “The matter at hand pertains to the power of the governor to issue vetoes as allowed under the Texas Constitution. I have been retained to ensure that (the special prosecutor) receives all the facts, which will show that the governor’s veto was carried out in both the spirit and the letter of the law.”
See here, here, and here for the background. Attorney Botsford must be good at what he does, because he’s already obfuscating the facts. The issue, as I’ve said repeatedly, is not that Perry vetoed the funds but that he threatened to veto them unless Travis County DA Rosemary Lehmberg resigned. Trying to force out another elected official in this manner is the no-no. Had Perry simply vetoed the funds without yapping about it beforehand, there would be no allegation of wrongdoing. I can’t wait to see what the grand jury, which has been seated, makes of this. Jason Stanford and Juanita have more.