August 21, 2014      4:50 PM
HK: Perry veto derailed 400 felony investigations
Lost in the coverage of the indictment has been the real world consequences of his executive actions
Texas
journalists criticizing Texas Democrats and clueless national pundits for
accepting the Perry presidential campaign frame on the recent Travis County
indictments of the longest serving governor of Texas is no longer news.
But
let’s put one fact on the table that has been missed in what is the most
consultant driven stampede in years. Rick Perry’s line item veto of the Travis
County Public Integrity Unit funding derailed more than 400 felony
level tax and insurance fraud investigations allegedly committed against the
State of Texas.
If
you think the defunding of a highly effective non-partisan white collar criminal
investigation operation because of a drunken CEO episode is a fair trade, read
no further.
First,
let’s stipulate this column is about the theatrics and collateral damage of the
Perry melodrama and not the substance of the indictments.
We
are frankly surprised that there is not yet a Motion to Quash
the indictments or a quick filing to seek a Summary Judgment. If a judge rejects either, the Perry
narrative collapses. But that is another
story for another time.
By Harvey Kronberg
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