WASHINGTON — The FBI seized the cell phone on Tuesday from Pennsylvania Republican Representative Scott Perry and the chairman of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, according to the congressman’s office.
Perry, who has received a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, said three FBI agents seized his phone Tuesday morning while he was traveling with family.
“They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have arranged for them to have my phone if that was their wish,” Perry said in a statement. “I am outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI, led by the Justice Department of Merrick Garland, would confiscate the phone of a sitting congressman.”
His statement was previously reported by Fox News.
Perry compared his cell phone seizure to Monday’s FBI search of the Mar-a-Lago property of former President Donald J. Trump, in which agents retrieved boxes of material after a full day of searching in connection with an investigation. to the mishandling of White House documents.
“My phone contains information about my legislative and political activities and personal/private conversations with my wife, family, voters and friends. None of this is the government’s business,” said Mr. perry. “As with President Trump last night, DOJ opted for this unnecessary and aggressive action rather than simply contacting my attorneys. These kinds of banana republican tactics should concern every citizen.”
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Key Revelations from the January 6 Hearings
Indicting Trump. The House committee investigating the January 6 attack gives a comprehensive account of President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to undo the 2020 election. Here are the key issues that have emerged from eight public hearings so far:
It wasn’t immediately clear why the FBI had confiscated Mr. Perry’s phone. A spokeswoman for the congresswoman did not immediately respond to a follow-up question, and the Department of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Perry has refused to appear before the Jan. 6 commission, and his attorney has argued that there was “nothing inappropriate” about his actions in the lead-up to the Capitol attack.
In the weeks following the 2020 election, Mr. Perry was one of at least 11 members of Congress involved in discussions with White House officials about annulling the election, including plans to impeach Vice President Mike Pence. pressure to throw out electoral votes from states won by President Biden, according to the commission. Mr. Perry also supported the idea of encouraging supporters to march to the Capitol, the committee said.
A member of Congress since 2013, Perry also compiled a dossier of voter fraud allegations and coordinated a plan to try and replace the acting attorney general, who opposed Mr. Trump’s attempts to undo the election. by a more accommodating official.
Perry isn’t the only Trump ally whose phone has been seized in recent weeks. In June, federal agents seized the phone belonging to John Eastman, the conservative attorney who advised Mr Trump on strategies to reverse the election.
The seizure of Mr. Eastman’s phone was carried out by FBI agents acting on behalf of the Department of Justice’s Inspector General’s office. It came on the same day that federal agents raided the home and seized the electronic devices of Jeffrey Clark, a former Justice Department official who was central to Mr. allegations of electoral fraud.
The Office of the Inspector General, which is responsible for investigating Justice Department employees, also issued a search warrant for Mr. Clark’s search. The warrant indicated that prosecutors are investigating Mr. Clark on charges that include conspiracy to obstruct the certification of the presidential election.
Mr. Perry was instrumental in introducing Mr. Clark to Mr. Trump and in pushing for Mr. Clark’s appointment as acting attorney general.
