( CNN ) -- Texas Gov . Rick Perry added another high-powered lawyer to his team fighting a felony indictment against him , but this addition is just as much about sending a message than winning the case . Mark Fabiani has deep ties to the Democratic Party and is best known for his legal and crisis communication expertise . He guided President Bill Clinton in his White House years and also ran Al Gore 's communications team during his presidential run in 2000 . As Fabiani signed on , Perry 's defense filed papers in Travis County District Court requesting the indictment be dismissed , arguing the charges are based on `` unconstitutional '' statute . Perry , a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate , has been charged with coercion of a public servant and abuse of his official capacity . They involve his threat last year to veto funding for a program run by the district attorney in Austin , Rosemary Lehmberg . The Travis County Democrat had been charged with drunken driving and refused to resign . While Fabiani 's ability to navigate crisis communications will be useful to the Republican politician , Perry 's reputation is on the line as he is simultaneously laying the foundation for a possible second White House bid . Perry 's team approached Fabiani about working on the case , and he accepted because `` this case raises very significant First Amendment issues , '' he told CNN . His hire is another attempt to show that even Democrats think the charges against Perry are ridiculous . `` I 'm proud to join Governor Perry 's outstanding team which has been assembled to fight back against this attack on the rule of law , '' Fabiani said in a statement . `` I am confident this prosecution will be revealed to be contrary to the law and wholly meritless . '' Fabiani joined the who 's who list of political legal defense . The Harvard-educated lawyer will be on the same team as Ben Ginsberg , a sharp departure from 14 years ago when the two were on opposite sides of the Florida presidential recount that sent George W. Bush to the White House . Ginsberg worked for Bush , and Fabiani for Gore , then the vice president . Leading Perry 's defense is Tony Buzbee , a Texas trial lawyer whose bio is 25 paragraphs long and includes media references like this one : `` The New York Times stated it best when it described Buzbee like this : 'Mr . Buzbee is a big , mean , ambitious , tenacious , fire-breathing Texas trial lawyer . Really big . Poster boy big . ' '' Perry has said he acted lawfully and indicated the charges were political . `` I refer to Travis County as the blueberry in the tomato soup if you know what I mean , '' Perry said in New Hampshire Friday , referring to the liberal-leaning political views in the Austin area , compared to other parts of the reliably red state . A confident Rick Perry hits the road after indictment . CNN 's Kevin Bohn and Ashley Killough contributed to this report .
Rick Perry has added Mark Fabiani to his high-powered legal team . Fabiani has deep ties to the Democratic Party , including the Clintons and Al Gore . He is a former aide on Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign.