Trump’s string of ‘anti’-status quo appointments continues with his selection of former Texas governor Rick Perry to lead the Energy Department, which it is worth noting he wanted to do away with in 2011.
Perry twice ran for his party’s presidential nomination, including against Trump, presenting himself as pro-business candidate.
Perry’s selection is amusingly ironic, because five years ago, Perry wanted to eliminate the Energy Department: in an infamous 2011 Republican primary debate, Perry forgot that the Energy Department was one of the three federal government agencies he wanted to do away with. The other two were the Commerce and Education Departments. According to some pundits, the gaffe may have cost him a shot at the party’s 2012 nomination.
Perry, Texas’ longest-serving governor, was indicted in 2014 for abuse
of power and coercion after threatening to veto funds for a Travis
County office that investigates corruption unless the district attorney,
who had pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated, resigned. Another
potential conflict of interest: Perry serves on the board of Energy Transfer Partners LP, the
company whose pipeline project has drawn opposition in North Dakota and
has become a rallying cry from environmentalists. While the Obama
administration has stalled the project, Trump has said federal approvals
for energy infrastructure need to come quicker.
This post was published at Zero Hedge on Dec 13, 2016.
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