Texas Gov. Rick Perry is making his first court appearance on felony charges that accuse him of abusing his power when he vetoed funding for public corruption prosecutors.

The potential 2016 presidential contender will be at a hearing Thursday in Austin. The Republican has said the charges are politically motivated and has asked for the case to be dismissed.

Perry was indicted in August by an Austin grand jury. He’s accused of carrying out a threat to veto $7.5 million for a public corruption division within the office of Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg after she refused to resign following a drunken-driving conviction.

The judge is expected to decide Thursday whether to dismiss the charges on a technicality. Perry was allowed to skip two previous pretrial hearings.

(AP)