When a Republican congressman pushed the Trump White House to embrace false election fraud claims and refuse to cede power, was that integral to his job?
That question was debated Thursday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, which Rep. Scott Perry is asking to block a search of his cellphone by the special counsel investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Pennsylvania Republican is supported by bipartisan House leadership in arguing that the speech or debate clause of the Constitution bars the Justice Department from seeing the phone contents.
“Informal legislative fact-finding is protected from intrusion,” argued John Rowley, a former federal prosecutor representing Perry. He said the congressman “was investigating ... two pending matters” when the messages at issue were sent — the Jan. 6 vote on certifying the 2020 election results, and a Democratic proposal to expand voting rights.
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After Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory, Perry pushed the White House and Justice Department to investigate implausible election fraud claims, including that an Italian defense contractor conspired with senior CIA officials to flip votes from President Donald Trump to Biden using military satellites. Perry was also involved in the effort to install as acting attorney general Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who backed plans to block Biden from taking office. Clark’s home has also been searched. Neither has been charged with a...
This story is the second in an ongoing series on the Cost of Fraud, as Open the Books tallies the hidden fees on American tax returns. Click here to read the first story on fraudulent autism billi...