IT DESCRIBES the use of law as a weapon of war. But the word cannot also be applied to domestic politics, as the use of criminal charges to bring down adversaries who cannot be defeated at the ballot box. The chief advocate and practitioner of political lawfare is the left. In Texas, the franchise belongs to Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg and her hard-left predecessors in office.
Recent victims, nationally, include Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. He was convicted on corruption charges that were later thrown out. Another victim, closer to home, was Texas Representative Tom DeLay. After his career and finances were ruined, all charges were thrown out.
Think what you will of his politics or character, what was done to him in our name was far worse than whatever it is he was supposed to have done. It was an abuse of power. It was profoundly anti-democratic.
Which brings us to . . .
. . . new Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. All during his campaign for this office, he had to fend off a charge from Ms. Lehmberg that he had violated state securities laws. He won anyway. Now, guess what? The Travis County D.A. has folded.
AUSTIN -- District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said Thursday that Travis County was not the appropriate venue to prosecute Attorney General Ken Paxton for violating state securities laws, leaving any further action in the case in doubt.
. . . .
"After conducting a thorough investigation, the Public Integrity Unit [of the Travis County D.A.'s office] determined that there was insufficient evidence to support a prosecution for any offense where venue would be appropriate in Travis County," red a news release from Gregg Cox, head of the office's Public Integrity Unit, which investigates allegations of wrongdoing by elected officials.
So if Travis County is not the appropriate venue in January 2015, why was it the appropriate venue when charges were floated in 2014? Didn't Ms. Lehmberg ask a law clerk to brief the venue issue?
At least she won't be wasting any more money on the case. She's too busy persecuting -- through a proxy -- Rick Perry for daring to exercise his constitutional veto power. (His alleged crime is that he said beforehand that he might do just that.) The case cannot possibly survive an honest court system, but exoneration will take time and resources, and may well succeed in wrecking what little chance Mr. Perry may otherwise have to win the GOP presidential nomination.
The whole point of political lawfare against Mr. Perry is to punish a political adversary, not by defeating him in court (highly unlikely in this case) but by dragging him through the courts, and doing it in our name as Texas citizens and with money from Texas taxpayers.
Meanwhile, here are two things you can count on. One is that Ms. Lehmberg will strike again. She'll pick another conservative or Republican and accuse him of some crime. Someday she might actually win one of these cases, but it hasn't happened yet.
The second thing is that the Houston Chronicle will respond to the de facto exoneration of Mr. Paxton with its typical lack of grace. Dig up the old editorial after Mr. DeLay won. You haven't seen snotty until you've read that editorial.
Shame on Ms. Lehmberg. Shame on the left for abusing the law to punish political adversaries. And shame on the Houston Chronicle for serving as cheerleader for abuse of power.
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