Topline
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) sued the Department of Justice last week after it seized his cell phone as part of the agency’s investigation into the January 6 attack on the Capitol building and the aftermath of the 2020 election, as Perry allegedly aided former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results.
Rep. Scott Perry (R-Penn.) at a House hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on April 28.
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ຂໍ້ເທັດຈິງສໍາຄັນ
Perry filed a motion in federal court in Washington, D.C., on August 18 (which was not made public until Tuesday) asking for it to order the DOJ to return all of Perry’s cell phone data and any other property it seized, after the agency ຍຶດໄດ້ the congressman’s phone on August 9 and took a forensic image of its data.
The seizure took place hours after the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, but Politico ບົດລາຍງານ Perry was targeted due to his efforts to help overturn the election results, which is unrelated to the Mar-A-Lago search.
Perry claims searching his phone would violate the Constitution’s Speech and Debate clause, which states that members of Congress “shall not be questioned in any other place” outside of the chamber where they serve, and he argues he should be allowed to determine which of his cell phone records are protected.
Though the DOJ obtained a warrant to seize his phone, Perry alleges the agency does not yet have a second search warrant to actually search its contents, “so far as we know.”
ຕື່ມອີກ ສານຍື່ນ on Wednesday, Perry asked the court to hold off on considering his motion because of ongoing discussions with the government about a “process to prevent the disclosure of” protected information, suggesting the lawmaker is hoping to come to an agreement with the DOJ outside of court.
The DOJ has not yet responded to a request for comment.
ກະທັດຮັດ
The legal tussle over Perry’s cell phone comes as Trump attorney John Eastman has also gone to court to challenge the agency’s seizure of his cell phone records as part of its January 6 probe. A federal judge ຖືກປະຕິເສດ Eastman’s emergency request to block investigators from using his phone data in its probe in mid-July, and a hearing will take place on September 6 in the case. Trump allies have repeatedly gone to court in an effort to block evidence and testimony from lawmakers and investigators probing January 6, and several ໄດ້ ຖືກກ່າວຫາ for contempt of Congress as a result of their unwillingness to cooperate.
ສິ່ງທີ່ຄວນສັງເກດເບິ່ງ
The DOJ’s probe into January 6 has been heating up in recent months and has been increasingly moving toward Trump and his top aides and allies. In addition to its cell phone seizures, the agency has ປະຕິບັດຂັ້ນຕອນ like issuing subpoenas to multiple former Trump attorneys, including ex-White House counsel Pat Cipollone, and brought in top aides to former Vice President Mike Pence to testify. The investigation is ລາຍງານວ່າ looking into the Trump campaign’s scheme that assembled “fake electors” in battleground states who submitted false election results to Congress claiming Trump had won, as well as Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark’s attempt to stop Georgia from certifying President Joe Biden’s win by falsely claiming the DOJ had found evidence of fraud. (The DOJ has also ຄົ້ນຫາ Clark’s home.) While most details about the agency’s investigation are not public, ຫຼາຍ ບົດລາຍງານ suggest investigators are increasingly looking into Trump himself and whether he could have violated any laws, with witnesses being asked about their conversations with the ex-president.
ຄວາມເປັນມາຫຼັກ
Perry, who serves as the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, has increasingly become a target of lawmakers and investigators looking into the post-election period. The lawmaker reportedly introduced Trump to Clark and was part of the effort to install Clark as the acting attorney general as part of the ex-president’s post-election efforts, according to a Senate Judiciary Committee ບົດລາຍງານ, ແລະ ໄດ້ເຂົ້າຮ່ວມ in a December 2020 meeting with Trump that ປຶກສາຫາລື overturning the election results. According to testimony given to the House January 6 Committee, Perry was one of at least six GOP lawmakers who asked Trump for ການໃຫ້ອະໄພ following the January 6 attack on the Capitol building, though he ປະຕິເສດ that claim. The lawmaker has been poາຍຮຽກຕົວ to testify before the House January 6 Committee, but has so far resisted the request.
ອ່ານເພີ່ມເຕີມ
Firebrand GOP Rep. Scott Perry ກ່າວວ່າ FBI ໄດ້ຍຶດໂທລະສັບມືຖືຂອງລາວ (Forbes)
Rep. Scott Perry denies Jan. 6 committee accusation that he sought a Trump pardon (ຂ່າວ CBS)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alisondurkee/2022/08/24/gop-rep-perry-sues-doj-after-it-seized-cell-phone-for-jan-6-investigation/