--- title: Texas Governor Rick Perry Defiant in Face of Criminal Charges description: Veto power is protected by the Texas constitution, Perry says canonical: https://time.com/3126445/texas-governor-rick-perry-criminal-charges-indictment/ author: Sam Frizell article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-08-16T19:59:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:44.034Z article:section: Politics og:title: Texas Governor Rick Perry Defiant in Face of Criminal Charges og:description: Veto power is protected by the Texas constitution, Perry says og:url: https://time.com/3126445/texas-governor-rick-perry-criminal-charges-indictment/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41c636c7651ba263/69869fd155a8599e70a8231d/rick-perry1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5184 og:image:height: 2916 og:image:alt: Rick Perry og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Texas Governor Rick Perry Defiant in Face of Criminal Charges twitter:description: Veto power is protected by the Texas constitution, Perry says twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41c636c7651ba263/69869fd155a8599e70a8231d/rick-perry1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rick Perry Defiant in Face of Criminal Charges > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Aug 16, 2014 7:59 PM UTC  Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa. Texas Gov. Rick Perry speaks at the Des Moines Register's Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair on Aug. 12, 2014, in Des Moines, Iowa. Charlie Neibergall—AP by [Sam Frizell](https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/) ## Sam Frizell Aug 16, 2014 7:59 PM UTC Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Saturday dismissed the criminal charges leveled against him as partisan political gamesmanship, and vowed to stand by his decision in 2013 to veto funding for a public integrity unit. “We don’t settle political differences with indictments,” said Perry, referring to the grand jury’s Friday [indictment against him](http://time.com/3121778/rick-perry-indicted-in-politically-charged-texas-battle/). “‘It is outrageous that some would use partisan political theatrics to tear away the fabric of our constitution.” The indictment is a response to Perry’s 2013 veto of $7.5 million in funding to state’s public integrity unit, based in the Travis County district attorney’s office. District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, who ran the unit, was arrested on charges of driving while intoxicated in 2012\. Perry vetoed her office’s funding after she refused to step aside. At the time that Perry vetoed the funding, the unit was investigating one of Perry’s signature achievements, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas, for alleged mismanagement. The grand jury indicted include abuse of official capacity, which carries a penalty of five to 99 years in prison, and coercion of a public servant, which carries a penalty of two to 10 years. Perry said Saturday that as governor, he is constitutionally within his rights to veto funding for any office. “I exercise the authority to veto funding for an office whose leadership has lost the public’s confidence by acting inappropriately and unethically,” said Perry. “I intend to fight against those that that would erode our state constitution and laws purely for political purposes.” Perry added that he will continue to focus on his governorship and focus particularly closely on border security. Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, both likely contenders against Perry for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination, have voiced their [support for the governor](http://time.com/3124790/ted-cruz-bobby-jindal-rick-perry/). Special Prosecutor Michael McCrum, a noted San Antonio criminal defense attorney who led the indictment against Perry, told reporters he will be working with the governor’s attorney to set up a time for Perry to be arraigned and booked. “I feel confident with the charges that have been filed,” he said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3126445/texas-governor-rick-perry-criminal-charges-indictment/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3126445/texas-governor-rick-perry-criminal-charges-indictment/"},"headline":"Rick Perry Defiant in Face of Criminal Charges","datePublished":"2014-08-16T19:59:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:44.034Z","description":"\"We don't settle political differences with indictments\"","url":"https://time.com/3126445/texas-governor-rick-perry-criminal-charges-indictment/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","States"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41c636c7651ba263/69869fd155a8599e70a8231d/rick-perry1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sam Frizell","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/sam-frizell/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt41c636c7651ba263/69869fd155a8599e70a8231d/rick-perry1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rick Perry","caption":"Rick Perry","creditText":"Charlie Neibergall—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2016-election/","name":"2016 Election"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3126445/texas-governor-rick-perry-criminal-charges-indictment/","name":"Rick Perry Defiant in Face of Criminal Charges"}}]}] ```