Texas Gov. Rick Perry was defiant Tuesday as he was booked on abuse of power charges, showing no sign of worry, angst or despair in his mug shot.
In fact, the man looks downright dashing in his booking photo:
Rick Perry was indicted Friday. Other than him threatening to "fight this injustice with every fiber of my being," you would never know such a thing occurred.
The 64-year-old flashed a thin, confident grin beneath his always-perfect hair, then headed to a local Austin eatery for ice cream, which he Tweeted about.
The Republican, who is mulling a second presidential run in 2016, was indicted for carrying out a threat to veto funding for state public corruption prosecutors.
The longest-serving governor in Texas history is accused of coercion and official oppression for publicly promising to veto $7.5 million for the public integrity unit.
Perry threatened the veto if the county's Democratic district attorney, Rosemary Lehmberg, stayed in office after a DUI conviction, then made good on it.
The threat is the key. Had Perry simply vetoed the funding and said nothing, he would not be in this position right now. But the D.A. says he crossed the line.
Lehmberg refused to resign and Perry carried out the veto, drawing ethics complaints from left-leaning groups for his bid to intimidate and influence a public official.
He has dismissed the case as a political ploy, as have many commentators on both sides of the political spectrum, and Tuesday had the feel of a campaign rally.
"I'm going to enter this courthouse with my head held high knowing the actions I took were not only lawful and legal, but right," Perry told supporters.
"We don't resolve political disputes or policy differences by indictments," he said. "We don't criminalize policy disagreements. We will prevail. We will prevail."
He's already prevailed with that mug shot. No "oops" about that.
Rick Perry's campaign for president is probably done for after this almost comically bad performance in last night's debate. OOPS.
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