Perry files motion to dismiss charges

Law being used to prosecute is vague, his attorneys say

Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at a GOP picnic, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014, in Chichester, N.H. It was Perry's second day visiting the nation's earliest presidential primary state as he considers another run for president.  (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at a GOP picnic, Saturday, Aug. 23, 2014, in Chichester, N.H. It was Perry's second day visiting the nation's earliest presidential primary state as he considers another run for president. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

Tuesday, August 26, 2014

AUSTIN, Texas -- Attorneys for indicted Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry formally asked a judge Monday to dismiss felony charges alleging that the possible 2016 presidential candidate abused his power with a veto last summer.

In a 60-page motion filed in state district court in Austin, Perry's high-powered defense team argues that the law being used to prosecute the longest-serving governor in Texas history is unconstitutionally vague.

They go on to claim that "attempts to convert inescapably political disputes into criminal complaints" shouldn't be allowed to go forward. Since being indicted on two felony counts more than a week ago, Perry has emphatically rejected the charges as a political ploy and pleaded not guilty.

Perry is accused of leveraging his veto power in June 2013 to try to oust Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, a Democrat, who was convicted of drunken driving.

"Texans deserve what their State's constitution guarantees: a Governor with the power to approve or disapprove of bills," reads the filing.

The filing was not unexpected. While Perry was in New Hampshire on Friday continuing his courtship of GOP voters for another potential White House run, one of his attorneys said the motion was imminent after a meeting in Austin with the Republican judge overseeing the case.

Michael McCrum, the special prosecutor, emerged from that meeting saying he remained confident in the charges.

Meanwhile, the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV reported Monday that Perry called attorney Mindy Montford, a Democrat, in June 2013 to see if she would accept an appointment to replace Lehmberg, whose office oversees the Travis County Public Integrity Unit, which investigates statewide corruption.

Perry threatened to veto funding for the unit after Lehmberg's arrest and conviction last year for drunken driving unless she resigned. Lehmberg refused to leave her post, and Perry eventually vetoed the money.

A Travis County grand jury indicted Perry on two felony counts related to that threat. The governor has dismissed the case against him as a political ploy, saying he was within his rights to veto the money and noting that the grand jury was seated in Austin, a heavily Democratic city.

By threatening the veto before actually carrying it out, Perry drew an ethics complaint from a left-leaning government watchdog group based in Austin, which sparked the case against him.

Perry's words to Montford suggest that not only was Perry looking to replace Lehmberg with a Democrat, but that the governor was still actively working behind the scenes, believing that she would step aside even without his issuing a veto.

Montford said her June 2013 conversation with Perry was "the first I had heard about the public integrity veto idea."

Montford said Perry told her that he planned to veto the money and that the district attorney's position might come open. State law gives the governor the power to pick replacement district attorneys, though the local Democratic state senator in Austin could have rejected Perry's appointment using senatorial privilege.

"There was no acceptance because I didn't feel like it was timely at that point," Montford said Sunday. "We never spoke again because it became irrelevant when she did not resign."

Perry is charged with violating state laws related to bribery and corruption. His attorneys argue in the filing that the section of the law "is fatally vague and overbroad" and doesn't define what actions are legal on one hand and illegal on the other.

If convicted, Perry could face a maximum 109 years in prison.

Perry's 2012 presidential campaign ended badly after he made several missteps, and he told business leaders in New Hampshire last week that he has yet to decide whether he will run again in 2016.

A Section on 08/26/2014