Two states. Two ethics panels. Two governors facing heat from prosecutors.
Yet of the two, it is the one who wasn’t indicted who might have committed the more troubling offense.
In Texas, Gov. Rick Perry was charged Friday with abuse of power — essentially, exercising his constitutional right to veto legislation.
Perry had nixed funding for a county public-integrity unit after the local DA who heads it was busted for driving drunk (her blood-alcohol level was nearly three times the limit). The DA also abused the arresting officer.
Perry refused to fund the unit unless the DA quit. Anyone who broke the law and harassed law-enforcement officials, he said, shouldn’t be enforcing the law — let alone investigating anyone else’s public integrity.
Gov. Cuomo, by contrast, hasn’t been charged with anything. But backers nonetheless hint at prosecutorial overkill by US Attorney Preet Bharara, who is probing Cuomo’s ties with the Moreland Commission.
Let’s compare the underlying allegations.
In Texas, the governor acted to protect the public from an official whom he believed had no business holding office.
In New York — according to numerous reports — Cuomo acted to protect himself and his allies by steering his own ethics panel away from potentially embarrassing investigations.
Even if Cuomo did nothing illegal, his alleged interference and decision to shut down the panel early raised fair questions about his commitment to fighting corruption.
That might not be indictable, but it might give New Yorkers more to worry about than Texans regarding Perry.