Texas Gov. Rick Perry prepares for hearing on abuse of power charges

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- He was busy supporting governor-elect Greg Abbot Tuesday night, but now current Gov. Rick Perry is preparing for court.

The governor's office says that Rick Perry will make his first court appearance in his criminal case then give a statement afterward.

On Tuesday night, we saw the governor talk about the big Republican wins in statewide elections including governor-elect Greg Abbott. But in the morning, Perry will resume his role as an accused criminal.

A judge ordered Perry to appear at this hearing after the governor did not attend a previous pre-trial hearing. Perry faces two felony counts of abuse of power stemming from Perry's threat to veto state funding for the Travis County DA's Public Corruption Investigative Unit.

The threat came after DA Rosemary Lehmberg refused the governor's call to resign after her DWU arrest. Perry went on to veto the funds. You might remember the last time the governor was at the Travis County Justice Center, he posed for his mug shot and then went for ice cream afterwards and tweeted out this photo.

Governor Perry's attorneys are challenging the case on constitutional and technical grounds. He calls the charges baseless political ones.