Even Liberals Say Texas Gov. Rick Perry's Indictment Is 'Sketchy

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is facing a felony indictment — and possibly a century in prison — on charges that he abused official power by pressuring a disgraced district attorney to quit.

But as the governor asserted on "Fox News Sunday," even liberals are saying the charges are ridiculous.

"David Axelrod [former advisor to President Barack Obama] said that this was a very sketchy indictment," Perry noted. “Professor [Alan] Dershowitz, who’s not exactly my cheerleader, said that it was outrageous. So across the board you’re seeing people weigh in, reflecting that this is way outside of the norm."

Unless he was demonstrably trying to scrap the ethics unit for other than his stated reason, Perry indictment seems pretty sketchy.

— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) August 16, 2014

Perry said the indictment was an underhanded political move.

"When you’ve got David Axelrod and Harvard law professor Dershowitz saying the things as they’ve said, I think it’s pretty reflective of what we’re working with here,” Perry said.

Perry has previously vowed to "fight" the "outrageous" indictment, which stemmed from a bizarre case.

Travis County Democratic District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg was arrested and pleaded guilty to drunk driving in April 2013.

Lehmberg served part of a jail sentence, but did not quit, leading Republicans to pressure her to step down.

Perry was among those who thought Lehmberg should resign, and special prosecutors say he broke the law when he promised publicly to kill $7.5 million over two years for the public integrity unit that Lehmberg's office headed.

Perry's office has argued that his actions were well within the scope of gubernatorial power, and on Sunday morning, he said, "If I had to do it again, I would make exactly the same decision."

(H/T: Mediaite)

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