A grand jury indicted Perry on Friday for abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant.
Texas Governor Rick Perry on August 9.
Brian Frank / Reuters
The two charges stem from Perry's attempts to force Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg out of office. After Lehmberg was arrested and jailed for drunk driving, Perry pushed her to resign. When she refused, he then threatened to veto funding for program she was running.
Lehmberg supporters believed Perry's veto threat was a form of political retribution, and a grand jury began investigating, The Austin Statesman reported.
The veto in question was made in accordance with the veto authority afforded to every governor under the Texas Constitution. We will continue to aggressively defend the governor's lawful and constitutional action, and believe we will ultimately prevail.
Perry is the first Texas governor to be indicted in almost a century, the Associated Press reported.
Perry rose to national prominence when he challenged Mitt Romney for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012. Though he lost, Perry had been working to return to national prominence — possibly for another run at the White House.
from BuzzFeed - Breaking http://ift.tt/1m3gCQm
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