Perry Vows to Fight Charges

“A day after a grand jury indicted him on two felony charges, a defiant Rick Perry on Saturday called the prosecution of his conduct a ‘farce’ and ‘abuse of power,'” the Austin American Statesman reports.

Said Perry: “I intend to win… We don’t settle political differences with indictments in this country.”

“Perry faces charges of abuse of official capacity and coercion of a public servant, which together carry maximum sentences of 109 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. He has not yet turned himself in at the Travis County Jail but is expected to do so in the next several days, when he will be fingerprinted and photographed.”

Dan Balz: “The prosecutors will have to prove their case in court. Even if successful, they would have to prevail in likely appeals. Meanwhile, the indictment could strengthen the governor with the base of his party, at least in the short term. The indictment is for now a stain on his record, but the legal and political endings are still to be written. Perry’s 2016 aspirations and his political legacy are in the balance.”