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September 2, 2014      2:33 PM

Whitmire says criminal complaint against him "has no legs"

Conservative group argues that if Perry committed a crime trying to influence Lehmberg, Whitmire did likewise by influencing U of H president

A conservative group says that if Gov. Perry committed a crime in trying to influence the Travis County DA, then Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, is also guilty of a crime for influencing the president of the University of Houston. But, the veteran lawmaker told Quorum Report Tuesday afternoon the criminal complaint filed against him is "much ado about nothing."

"My situation doesn't even deserve comment because it has absolutely no semblance of the Perry allegations,” said Whitmire, the Dean of the Texas Senate. “Sounds like some lawyers with too much time on their hands.”

In a criminal complaint filed with the Public Integrity Unit of the Travis County District Attorney’s Office, the Conservative Action Fund argued that Sen. Whitmire exerted influence over a public official, in this case U of H President Renu Khator, when he pressured her to kill a plan to require freshmen to live on campus.

Text messages between Whitmire and Khator were published in The Houston Chronicle.

By Scott Braddock