A defiant Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), under indictment on two felony counts related to his handling of a local political controversy, was booked by authorities on Tuesday afternoon, where he declared his innocence and vowed to fight the charges he faces, CNN reported.
Appearing voluntarily at the Travis County Court, the potential 2016 presidential candidate was fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken. "I'm going to enter this courthouse with my head held high knowing that the actions I took were not only lawful and legal but right," Perry told reporters and some cheering supporters before he entered the courthouse.
"I'm going to fight this injustice with every fiber of my being, and we will prevail and we'll prevail because we're standing for the rule of law," he said.
Last Friday, Perry was indicted by a grand jury on charges that he abused his office by improperly threatening to and then withholding state funds for a program run by a county prosecutor unless she resigned. At issue is a threat Perry followed through with to veto funding to an anti-corruption agency. Perry vetoed $7.5 million for the Public Integrity Unit after Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg (D) refused to resign following a 2013 drunk-driving arrest, Washington Post reported.
After being indicted last week on counts alleging coercion of a public servant and abuse of his official capacity, the governor is scheduled to appear in court on Friday.
However, "his legal team insists he had a legal right to tie funding for the public integrity unit to Lehmberg's removal, and argues he had no legal obligation to explain his veto," CNN reported.
After his booking on Tuesday, Perry went for ice cream, tweeting a picture of himself holding a cone.
Meanwhile, Democrats said they looked forward to Perry's case being tried, according to Washington Post.
"This may be a sideshow to Rick Perry but no amount of spin can cover up two felony charges," said Democratic National Committee spokesman Michael Czin in a statement. "When Rick Perry has his day in court, his case will be decided by the facts, not theatrics."
