WASHINGTON (AP) – Texas Gov. Rick Perry is lashing out at the “outrageous” criminal charges filed against him and defending the veto that led a grand jury to indict him on two felony counts of abuse of power.
Perry, a potential candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, appeared defiant Saturday when he met with reporters outside his Capitol office in Austin, Texas.
Already the longest-serving governor in state history – in office since December 2000 – he made it clear that he plans to complete his final term in January as planned.
“We don’t settle political differences with indictments in this country,” Perry said. “It is outrageous that someone would use political theatrics to rip away at the very fabric of our state’s constitution.”
A Travis County grand jury on Friday indicted Perry for carrying out a threat to veto state funds to the local district attorney, an elected Democrat who refused to resign following a drunken-driving arrest. That 2013 veto prompted a criminal investigation.