Democratic congressional candidate Nick Lampson picked up endorsements from three police organizations on Wednesday, and also countered GOP talking points speculating that he would support House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi as speaker if he wins election and Democrats gain control of the House.

And, Lampson said, he answered county prosecutors’ questions about a case recently presented to a Fort Bend County grand jury, involving the disruption of the last press conference Lampson held in Sugar Land before the one on Wednesday.

At the Sugar Land Community Center, Lampson announced he’s received what he called “critically important” endorsements from the National Association of Police Officers, the International Union of Police Associations, and the Texas State Police Coalition.

Flanked by local police officers, sheriff’s deputies and constables, Lampson said “they risk their lives for our safety and they don’t get much in return. I’m glad to have their support, and I want them to know when I get to Congress I’ll be their best friend and supporter.”

He criticized Congress for cutting funding to programs such as the Community Oriented Police Services and High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas, and said he has a strong record of supporting such initiatives.

“In a state where our highway patrol leads the nation in criminal arrests and seizures of drugs and currency, and 60 to 80% of the drugs pass through Houston, support for anti-drug operations is of utmost importance,” Lampson said.

While Lampson discussed his police support, the Libertarian Party announced Wednesday that Republican Bob Barr, the former Georgia congressman, has endorsed Smither in the race against Lampson.

“With the departure of Tom DeLay, it is important to do everything we can to ensure the 22d District continues to be represented by a conservative,” Barr was quoted as saying. “Bob is a genuine fiscal conservative with a firm desire to see a return to constitutionally-limited government as intended by our Founding Fathers.

“Write-in campaigns rarely succeed, and that is also why I ask that you join me in supporting Bob Smither as the only candidate who can defeat the liberal Nick Lampson,” Barr said in the Libertarian-provided statement.

Meanwhile, Lampson blunted persistent speculation that he’d support Pelosi as House speaker, which appears to have become a GOP talking point in the campaign.

“I disagree on a lot of things with her,” Lampson said. “For example, I have an ‘A’ rating with the National Rifle Association. I certainly don’t need, nor did I, a party boss” telling him how to vote.

Wednesday’s press conference was far less eventful than the last one Lampson supporters held in Sugar Land.

At an April 6 press conference, supporters of former CD-22 congressman Tom DeLay, who has since dropped out of the race, converged on Lampson supporters outside Sugar Land City Hall, blowing an air horn, jostling Lampson, and allegedly assaulting one of his supporters, 69-year-old Marsha Rovai of Richmond.

Rovai later filed a report with Sugar Land police, saying she’d been assaulted by DeLay supporter Ken Dexter, who was at the time the foreman on a Fort Bend County grand jury.

Fort Bend County District Attorney John Healey said Wednesday that Assistant District Attorney Felipe Rendon presented the case to the grand jury, and that First Assistant DA Fred Felcman and Healey himself assisted in the presentment.

Healey said the grand jury was directed to focus on potential charges of disruption of a public gathering, injury to an elderly individual, or misdemeanor assault via “offensive contact of someone over 65.” The jury declined to return indictments on any of those charges.

Lampson said Wednesday he did not appear before the grand jury, but did answer prosecutors’ questions as the prepared to present the case to the jury.

Rovai, who attended Lampson’s conference on Wednesday, said she was “terribly disappointed” the grand jury didn’t return an indictment, and blamed that fact on involvement by Fort Bend District Court Judge Brady Elliott, a Republican who presided over the grand jury, and Healey, the Republican district attorney.

Flanked by police officers attending the Wednesday conference in support of Lampson, Rovai said she felt safer than during the April press conference.

“I feel very comfortable in here because everyone is packing,” she added.