Perry to turn himself in to authorities

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) will turn himself into authorities on Tuesday evening, following his indictment by a grand jury on charges relating to abuse of power last week.

{mosads}Fox News is reporting Perry plans to report to the Travis County Jail in Austin, Texas, at 6 p.m. and will have his mug shot and fingerprints taken during the booking.

Perry was indicted Friday by a Texas grand jury on charges of coercion of a public official and abuse of official capacity for his veto of funding for a public corruption unit in the state.

Critics of the governor say the veto was intended to pressure the Democratic district attorney in Travis County to resign after her conviction for drunken driving. Rosemary Lehmberg has refused Perry’s calls for her to step down.

The governor’s arraignment has been set for Friday, but Perry reportedly has no plans to attend and will go forward with a weekend trip to New Hampshire to rally Republicans there.

Perry’s made no secret of his interest in another run for president, and though the indictment could affect his prospects, aides say it won’t affect his planned tour of early presidential primary states over the next two weeks, including Iowa and South Carolina.

He has denied any wrongdoing and pledged to fight the indictment, drawing an uncharacteristically unified show of support from nearly all of his potential 2016 presidential opponents.