Well, a Grand Jury is being convened in Travis County to decide if District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg and/or Governor Rick Perry overstepped the boundaries of abuse of office.

The DA was arrested on a DWI charge the night following the death of a close friend (no excuses) and pretty much acted like a horses’ patoot while under arrest, asking if they knew who she was and had they called the sheriff.  She was sloppy drunk and voluntarily spent 22 days in jail for a first time DWI.  There are video tapes of the entire thing and some folks think she tried to pull rank that night and that it was abuse of power.

Immediately thereafter, Rick Perry demanded that she resign.  Lehmberg is a Democrat (and she prosecuted Tom DeLay, a case still on appeal).  If she resigns, Rick Perry got to appoint the new DA.  We are pretty danged sure that Perry would appoint a Republican.

The Travis County DA is responsible for prosecuting public corruption in Texas.  So, Rick pulled a rabbit out of a hat.  He threatened to veto funding for the public corruption unit unless Lehmberg resigned.  That’s kind of extortion.  She turned down his offer and he vetoed the funding.

Perry’s veto read in part, “I cannot in good conscious support continued state funding when the person charged with the ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”

However, the Travis County commissioners court had not lost confidence so they dug around and found the money to partially fund the unit.  I can assure you that Lehmberg would be re-elected in a heartbeat in Travis County.

So, a special prosecutor was obtained to see if either of them abused their power.

Pass the popcorn.

Thanks to Kyle for the heads up.