Perry: I Would Make Exactly the Same Call

Texas governor doubles down in his attack on indictment
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2014 11:47 AM CDT
Perry: I Would Make Exactly the Same Call
Gov. Rick Perry makes a statement at the capitol building in Austin, Texas on Saturday, Aug. 16, 2014.   (AP Photo/The Daily Texan, Jenna VonHofe)

Two days after being indicted Rick Perry is still calling the findings of the Texas grand jury little more than a political witch hunt, reports Politico. "I stood up for the rule of law in the state of Texas," he told Fox News Sunday. "And if I had to do it again, I would make exactly the same decision." The indictment, he said, as per the AP, is "not the way we settle political differences in this country. You don't do it with indictments. We settle our political differences at the ballot box."

Perry claims he's not the only one skeptical of the case, pointing to longtime Obama operative David Axelrod, who tweeted that it was "sketchy." He's gotten support from high-profile Republicans—including those he could potentially face off against in the 2016 presidential race, Bobby Jindal, Ted Cruz, and Jeb Bush—and today got some more from Ohio Republican Michael Turner. "This is the criminalization of just the legislative function and when you do that you weaken democracy," Turner told Meet the Press. "This is certainly a political attack, and this is very bad precedent." Wendy Davis, a Democrat running for Perry's job, was more measured, calling the charges, "very, very serious." (More Rick Perry stories.)

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