There is no history of bad blood between Texas Republican Gov. Rick Perry and Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, and the two may have never met, the governor's former Chief of Staff Deirdre Delisi told
Newsmax TV's "America's Forum."
Perry was indicted on charges of abuse of power and coercion Friday in a case involving Lehmberg, after she was jailed for drunken driving. Following her arrest, Perry vetoed $7.5 million for a public integrity unit in Lehmberg's office.
"There really was no history between the two of them. In fact, I don't know if they'd actually ever met each other before," Delisi said Monday.
Story continues below video.
Note: Watch Newsmax TV now on
DIRECTV Ch. 349 and
DISH Ch. 223
Get Newsmax TV on your cable system –
Click Here Now
Perry wasn't the only one to question Lehmberg's behavior, Delisi said, adding there were doubts by "elected officials all across the state after her arrest for drunk driving came to light."
She said the indictment was just proof of the way Perry stood up to the "liberal interests of Texas," and was also the result of Democrats' inability to win elections.
"They haven't been able to beat him at the ballot box. He has served a historic 14 years. This is the only way that they're trying to bring him down," she said.
John Griffing, investigative journalist for National Review and American Thinker, called the indictment "politically motivated" and evidence of corruption in the Travis County D.A.'s office.
"There is a deep-seated corruption and gangrenous and malignant problem in the Travis D.A.," Griffing told Newsmax TV on Monday. "This is not the first time we've seen the Travis County D.A.'s office get embroiled in some sort of character assassination attempt or politically motivated and agenda-driven effort."
Texas was the "cornerstone of the United States," Griffing said, adding that without a strong governor, "Texas will fail, and that means America will fail."
© 2026 Newsmax. All rights reserved.