Greta: The Texas D.A. has ham sandwich in the Gov. Perry indictment

Greta: D.A. has ham sandwich in Perry indictment

'Off the Record,' 8/18/14: Indictments shouldn't be used to settle political scores

By Greta Van Susteren

Let's go "Off the Record" for a minute. No one can tell you certainly what a trial jury will decide is guilty or not guilty. And a Travis County district attorney is certainly not sharing with me what's in her file. But you've already heard the expression that a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich. Well, Texas D.A. Rosemary Lehmberg, she may have found her ham sandwich named Governor Rick Perry.

The Governor now facing 99 years in prison. D.A. Lehmberg convinced a Texas grand jury to indict him for allegedly misusing his office by vetoing money the legislator had designated for her office. The D.A. claims that Governor Perry's veto was no ordinary veto, but a sinister one to run her out of office by starving her office of money.

Yeah, that's rotten, but that is politics. It can be that way. It can be rotten. It's public knowledge though that he wants her out. He says she's unfit for the D.A. job because last year she was convicted of drunk driving. She had an open bottle of vodka on the front seat of her car and driving the wrong way down the street. You may have seen the video of her arrest. She has lots of Youtube hits.

Yes, lots of bad blood between the governor and the D.A. Perry is not running for governor again, though, so she can't campaign against him, can't run him out of office of the ballot box. So, now she's throwing her punch with a criminal indictment.

But think about it. Does that mean every veto by a Texas governor that a D.A. does not like risk an indictment? That's absurd. Indictments should not be used to settle a political score. That sounds like a ham sandwich to me. And that's my "Off the Record" comment tonight.