By  SARAH RUMPF–

AUSTIN, Texas — A grand jury indicted Governor Rick Perry Friday for his attempts to remove Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg from office after she was arrested for driving while intoxicated last year in a case that made national headlines.

In April 2013, Lehmberg was arrested after a witness called 911, describing her as driving erratically, swerving back and forth into the bike lane, and into oncoming traffic. Officers at the scene reportedly found an open bottle of vodka in her car, and a blood sample obtained later that evening purportedly showed a blood alcohol level of 0.239—almost three times the legal limit—even that many hours later.

Not only did her arrest attracted headlines, but her belligerent behavior after she was brought to the police station—all captured on video tape—drew attention, as well. Lehmberg is seen blaming the police for destroying her political career, yelling and insulting them; demanding that they call Travis County Sheriff Greg Hamilton; sticking out her tongue; making faces; kicking at the door to her cell; and eventually getting restrained with leg irons, being strapped to a chair and wearing what is commonly referred to as a “spit mask,” which is usually used when a detainee is spitting or biting. To be fair, the video does not expressly show that happening, and Lehmberg’s defense attorney later claimed that the mask was used to “protect her identity.”

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Lehmberg’s sentence, a fine and 45 days in jail, was most likely the highest in history in Travis County for a first-time DWI charge. The investigation into her case also revealed a less-than-flattering picture of her drinking habits. Subpoenaed receipts from Twin Liquors showed her buying 72 bottles of Cirroc vodka—totaling more than 23 gallons—in a 15-month period, and that Lehmberg spread her purchases out among different stores. This amount only covers purchases made with her credit card at that one liquor store chain, not cash purchases or alcohol obtained elsewhere.

In Texas, the district attorney is the county’s lead law enforcement officer, and the Travis County District Attorney has the additional responsibility of prosecuting public crimes under the Public Integrity Unit, leading to a loud outcry for Lehmberg’s resignation from lawmakers and public safety groups. State Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford) sharply condemned her behavior, saying that what he’d seen on the videos from her arrest “showed incredible belligerence and disrespect” and an “utter contempt and disrespect for the law and for the office.”

The Texas Local Government Code, in Chapter 87, allows public officials like district attorneys to be removed from office for “incompetency, official misconduct, habitual drunkenness, or other causes defined by law.” The 1987 revision to the law added a single incidence of intoxication on or off duty as a potential cause for removal.

However, because Lehmberg is a Democrat, elected in Travis County, one of the most Democratic-heavy areas of the state, and Governor Perry, a Republican, would be able to pick her replacement, other Democrats quickly rallied to her defense. Other prosecutors who worked under Lehmberg publicly supported her remaining in office, as did State Senator Kirk Watson (D-Austin).

Frustrated with Lehmberg’s refusal to resign and maintaining his position that someone who had committed her offenses was not fit for office, either as the district attorney or as head of the Public Integrity Unit, Perry then announced plans to veto funding for the Public Integrity Unit unless Lehmberg resigned. Texas law clearly grants the governor the power to veto funding for the Public Integrity Unit and many other agencies, but Democrats supporting Lehmberg howled in protest.

Continued at BREITBART 

Photo/AP

Another prime example of our tax dollars at work! GOD BLESS AMERICA!

DEAN JAMES @ AMERICAS FREEDOM FIGHTERS

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