Texas Governor Rick Perry was indicted Friday on felony charges related to attempting to force a district attorney's resignation in what is being called a blatant political move against the Republican governor.
A grand jury based in the strongly Democratic city of Austin indicted Perry for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant when he threatened to veto $7.5 million in funding for the public corruption unit of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg's office, the New York Daily News reported.
Perry made the threat after Lehmberg, a Democrat, was charged and pled guilty to drunk driving in April 2013.
The governor said he wanted Lehmberg to resign and that he would not authorize funding "when the person charged with ultimate responsibility of that unit has lost the public's confidence," according to the Daily News.
When Lehmberg refused to step down, Perry vetoed the funding. Critics slammed the Republican governor, claiming he wanted to force her out of office so he could choose her replacement. The charges are also viewed as a potential setback if Perry chooses to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016. He unsuccessfully ran for the candidacy back in 2012.
But Perry reacted swiftly to the charges, dismissing the "outrageous" indictment and standing by his actions as governor of Texas, which is mostly Republican.
"I wholeheartedly and unequivocally stand by my veto, and I'll continue to defend this lawful action of my executive authority as governor," Perry said at a Friday press conference according to the Associated Press.
"We don't settle political indifferences with indictments in this country," he said.
The governor also said Friday he will continue to perform his duties, such as tackling the border crisis, which Perry blames the federal government for.
David Botsford, the governor's attorney, said Perry is being punished for using rights granted him by the state constitution.
But according to Special Prosecutor Michael McCrum, who filed the indictment, the governor broke the law.
"I took into account the fact that we're talking about a governor of a state- and a governor of the state of Texas, which we all love," McCrum said according to the newspaper. "But when it gets down to it, the law is the law."
Perry is the first Texas governor to be indicted in nearly 100 years. If he is convicted of abuse of power, he faces five to 99 years in prison. He faces two to 10 years if he is convicted of coercion, the AP reported.
