With ‘ friends’ like these, Harris County DA doesn’t need enemies
Criticizing Devon Anderson these days is as easy as counting the grammatical errors in Donald Trump’s Twitter feed.
The storm clouds over the Harris County district attorney’s re- election bid have proven endless fodder for news pages and pennies from heaven for her tenacious opponent, Kim Ogg.
Ogg stands on her own merits: The former chief felony prosecutor has fresh ideas for reform and strong credentials, including as former executive director of Crime Stoppers.
In a Republican- leaning county, though, it takes more than merit for a Democrat to best a GOP incumbent. It takes massive missteps and controversy on the other side.
Of those, take your pick. Anderson has been pummeled for everything from her office’s jailing of a rape victim to ensure testimony at the attacker’s trial to waiting too long to disclose large- scale evidence destruction by a since- fired deputy in Precinct 4.
But none of those things will seal her fate within her own party. No, for some in the farright fringe, Anderson’s greatest weakness is the case she got right, at least initially.
Consider the Sept. 17 email to Anderson from Republican kingmaker Dr. Steve Hotze.
“Greetings!” begins the missive, sent just before midnight to Anderson and a long list of conservative officials and operatives. Hotze, an anti- abortion, anti- gay activist whose slate of Republican candidates is chosen through a process roundly criticized as a “pay- to- play” scheme, is still dutifully trusted by party faithful who prefer not to do their own candidate research.
Hotze asks if Anderson attended the Texas Right to Life banquet. He notes that undercover videographer David Daleiden, who accused Planned Parenthood of trafficking fetal organs, was honored with “The Defender of Life Award” and received a rousing standing ovation. Then he begins his attack. He calls Anderson’s handling of an investigation into Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast “a travesty of justice.”
Anderson, who touts her
“pro-life” credentials, agreed to investigate Planned Parenthood but vowed to “go where the evidence leads us.”
At her own political peril, it appeared she did. In January, a grand jury declined to indict anyone at the family planning organization and chose instead to indict Daleiden and his associate, Sandra Merritt, on a misdemeanor charge stemming from an attempt to purchase human organs, and a seconddegree felony for allegedly falsifying driver licenses.
The indictments led to brutal online assaults against Anderson by anti-abortion folks and attempts to shun her at public events.
In July, prosecutors abruptly dropped charges, blaming a flawed indictment from a grand jury acting beyond its reach. Some called it a political calculation, but whatever it was, it apparently didn’t absolve Anderson of her original sin. Tough having scruples
In his email, Hotze, president of Conservative Republicans of Texas, questions Anderson’s commitment to the pro-life cause and indicates he regrets supporting her for the office.
But his fury is not without mercy.
“You can redeem yourself by calling another Grand Jury that will indict Planned Parenthood,” he writes. “The people that run that organization are desperately evil and wicked. They should be rounded up and sent to jail for the rest of their lives. They will spend eternity in Dante’s 7th ring of hell.”
In other words, the only way Anderson can wash herself clean in the eyes of anti-abortion zealots is to manipulate facts and grand jurors to achieve a predetermined result.
It must be tough being a Republican with scruples these days.
For all I can say about Anderson, she has shown a greater measure of spine than she’s gotten credit for. Especially now that I see the lunacy she’s up against.
Hotze couldn’t be reached by phone, and he and his assistant didn’t return emails.
Anderson’s campaign spokesman, Allen Blakemore, said in a statement to the Chronicle’s Brian Rogers that it’s “regrettable” that Hotze chose to launch a personal attack: “He confuses a commitment to ProLife values — one he shares with the District Attorney — with his inability to compel her to ignore law and due process.” How did we get here?
The county’s Republican Party chairman, Paul Simpson, issued a statement decrying the intraparty fighting.
“‘Dr.’ Hotze again attacks Republicans instead of fighting to end the legal loopholes that let Planned Parenthood get away with its barbaric practices,” the statement said. “Meanwhile, true Harris County Republicans are pitching in every day to elect all Republicans up and down the ballot to keep Har- ris County a Republican County.”
You, dear reader, will have to decide whether the county stands a better chance at justice under Anderson or Ogg.
I hope you’ll mull deeper questions as well: How did we get to the point in this country where following the law is an unforgivable sin?
When did it become OK to openly bully an elected official into violating her job description?
And can we finally reach the point where nobody, not even the laziest, most ill-informed voter, cares what Steve Hotze has to say?