Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) has been fanning false claims for years, long before his efforts to overturn the 2020 election based on former president Donald Trump’s baseless allegations drew the attention of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
In the fall of 2017, Perry claimed a former House aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) orchestrated “massive” data transfers that amounted to a “substantial security threat,” according to Fox News. The Pakistani American staffer, Imran Awan, was later cleared of stealing government secrets by federal prosecutors.
Around the same time, Perry suggested then-CNN host Chris Cuomo was exaggerating the lack of water and electricity in hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico. “You’re simply just making this stuff up,” Perry said. Hurricane Maria was later tied to nearly 3,000 deaths.
In January 2018, Perry speculated about an Islamic State connection to the mass shooting in Las Vegas the previous year, contradicting law enforcement’s assertion that the accused gunman was working alone. “I smell a rat like a lot of Americans,” he said.
Perry’s incendiary remarks in recent years made bold headlines that quickly faded. Now, the five-term congressman and incoming chairman of the hard-right House Freedom Caucus has drawn the scrutiny of the bipartisan House panel probing the deadly insurrection by a pro-Trump mob.
On Tuesday, Perry rebuffed the committee’s request for communications and voluntary testimony, the...
You don't have permission to access "http://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/nationwide-doj-health-care-fraud-takedown-washington-dental-home-care-cases/281-c3c3352a-f7e4-4e26-a085-e47346f42944" o...