Rick Perry Deletes Scandalous Tweet, Says It Was Unauthorized

Texas Governor Rick Perry’s twitter account posted a disparaging tweet about District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg but then quickly removed it. Rosemary Lehmberg is the woman at the center of the governor’s indictment.

The tweet read,

“I don’t always drive drunk at 3x the legal blood alcohol limit… but when I do, I indict Gov. Perry for calling me out about it. I am the most drunk Democrat in Texas.”

The comment refers to District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg’s drunk driving arrest in 2013. Soon after the tweet was deleted, the account ran this post,

A tweet just went out from my account that was unauthorized. I do not condone the tweet and I have taken it down.

— Rick Perry (@GovernorPerry) September 1, 2014

It’s not clear who wrote the original scandalous tweet, but Rick Perry clearly wants to keep his indictment classy. As previously reported by the Inquisitr, he already had great success with his mug shot.

Nevertheless, Ms. Lehmberg’s drunk driving has quickly become common knowledge. In April 2013, Ms. Lehmberg was pulled over and arrested for driving under the influence. The district attorney pled guilty and served 45 days in prison with a $4,000 fine.

However, the most damaging bit of the case may have been the video shot while Lehmberg was being held. The video showed the drunken attorney in restraints after repeatedly being uncooperative with police.

The incident marked the beginning of a difficult relationship with Rick Perry. Governor Perry later demanded that Lehmberg resign, threatening to veto $7.5 million in funding for the Public Integrity Unit that operated out of her office.

Rick Perry said he could not support funding “for an office with statewide jurisdiction at a time when the person charged with ultimate responsibility for that unit has lost the public’s confidence.”

Lehmberg refused to resign and Governor Perry made good on his threat.

The veto led a group called the Texans for Public Justice to file a complaint that ultimately resulted in a grand jury indictment. Lehmberg’s office was investigating state agency Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, a key achievement of Perry’s administration. This lead to some people claiming that Perry wanted Lehmberg to resign to hamper the investigation.

The indictment says that Governor Perry was abusing his power. But the question is, did the governor use the veto to protect his project from scrutiny or did he want a public figure removed before she further embarrassed her office?

The court of public opinion seems to be siding with the governor as he jumped 7 points with voters in Iowa.

Although the tweet may have crossed the line, Rick Perry still seems to have a strong position, at least politically.

[Image Credit: Ed Schipul/Wikimedia Commons]