Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Thursday accused Democrats in his state of punishing Republican opponents by misusing prosecution power and the courts because Democrats “can’t get what they want at the polls.”
In an interview with The Washington Times, Mr. Perry hailed a court ruling Thursday that threw out the felony conviction of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, putting an end to the eight-year legal travail for the congressman from Texas on charges of laundering illegal political contributions.
Mr. DeLay left Congress in 2006, and his ordeal cost him dearly in legal expenses that apparently will keep mounting thanks to the appeal of the latest decision.
The appeals court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to uphold the conviction, but Mr. DeLay’s travails aren’t over. The Travis County District Attorney’s Office is appealing the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals‘ 2-1 ruling to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.
Mr. DeLay, also in Washington on Thursday on separate business, said that what the prosecution claimed he had done would be perfectly legal under current campaign finance laws.
“I’m not saying it was easy to go through,” he told reporters. “On the other hand, if you read the ruling [it says] this is an outrageous criminalization of politics. In the ruling, they say I should have never even been charged, much less indicted.”
As the number of cases of prosecutor misconduct have mounted, law schools, criminal defense attorneys and libertarians have called for prosecution review boards.
