FBI seizes phone of Trump ally Rep. Perry
After the Mar-a-Lago raid, the FBI also seized the cell phone of Trump ally Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
“This morning while I was traveling with my family, three FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone,” Perry said in a statement.
He said the agents “made no attempt to contact my attorney, who would have made sure they got my phone if that was their wish.”
His cell phone contains information about his legislative and political activities and private conversations with his wife, family, constituents and friends, Perry said, adding that “none of this is the government’s business.”
“I am outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under Merrick Garland’s Department of Justice would seize the phone of a sitting member of Congress,” he said.
This is likely in connection with the Department of Justice’s investigation into the attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election at the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Perry pushed Trump’s false claims of widespread election fraud in 2020 and was later mentioned in several hearings by the House Select Committee investigating Jan. 6.
Committee Chairman Benny Thompson sent Perry a letter requesting information about his efforts to help appoint Justice Department official Jeffrey Clarke, who wanted to defend Trump’s election fraud claims, as acting attorney general.
The committee revealed that Trump wanted to remove then-incumbent Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and replace him with Clark, who would say that all states won by Joe Biden must send alternate, pro-Trump voters to certify the election.
Several Justice Department officials told Trump they would resign if he removed Rosen and replaced him with Clark.
This exhibit from a video released by the House Select Committee shows texts between Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and Rep. Scott Perry, Pennsylvania, on display at a hearing of the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, Thursday, June 23, 2022, on Capitol Hill at the Washington House Special Committee via AP
Perry declined to provide information or volunteer to testify.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows, told the committee in June that Perry was among five Republican lawmakers who had asked Trump for a pardon since Jan. 6. Perry denied the claim.
“I have never spoken to Miss Hutchinson, a White House scheduler, or any White House official about a pardon for me or any member of Congress — that never happened,” Perry said.
I stand by my statement that I have never sought a presidential pardon for myself or any other member of Congress. At no time did I speak to Ms. Hutchinson, the White House scheduler, or any of the WH staff about a pardon for me or any other member of Congress – it never happened.
— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) June 23, 2022
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