Monday, July 20, 2015

Former Governor Rick Perry spends big bills on legal defense

Patrick Svitek of the Texas Tribune posted an article on Sunday, July 16, 2015 titled “Perry spends $2 million in state campaign cash onlegal defense”, in which he gives a general update as to the financial consequences of former Texas Governor Rick Perry after he threatened to veto state funding for Public Integrity Unit. Perry announced last year that unless Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg stepped down after a drunken-driving arrest, he would not approve the program’s request for funding. The Public Integrity Unit is a state-funded division of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office that investigates public corruption, insurance fraud, and motor fuels tax fraud. The Travis County DA holds the chief responsibility for enforcing the government and election code statewide.

In Svitek’s article, he points out just how badly Perry’s action has affected his bank account. “The steady stream of legal fees has left Perry with roughly $1.3 million in the account, a fraction of the $4.4 million he had stockpiled a year ago. And with Perry no longer holding statewide office, little money is flowing into the account — $685 from January through June.”

The author no doubtedly paints a dire picture for his readers, and with good reason. He points out that Perry has buzzed through half of his cash for his campaign to get this abuse-of-power indictment put behind him. Now left with far less funding, Perry will obviously have fewer resources for campaigning, and I believe that it has been proven that the old saying “no press is bad press” does not always hold true.

The article was published in both The Texas Tribune and in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, both of which are mainstream Texas news sources.

Regardless of how this all turns out, Perry still has his sights set on the White House. He insists that the case is “politically motivated and will fade away.”

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