Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) says that the FBI confiscated his cell phone after three brokers approached him whereas he was touring with his household on Tuesday.
Perry, chairman of the Home Freedom Caucus, informed Fox Information in an announcement that he was handed a warrant as brokers requested the gadget, simply in the future after the FBI executed a search warrant at former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago property.
It’s not clear what the FBI is allegedly searching for in Perry’s cell phone. The company declined to touch upon the matter, as did the Division of Justice (DOJ). Perry’s workplace didn’t instantly return a request for remark.
“This morning, whereas touring with my household, 3 FBI brokers visited me and seized my cell phone. They made no try to contact my lawyer, who would have made preparations for them to have my phone if that was their want. I’m outraged — although not stunned — that the FBI below the path of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress,” Perry stated in an announcement to Fox Information. “My phone accommodates information about my legislative and political actions, and private/personal discussions with my spouse, household, constituents, and mates. None of that is the federal government’s enterprise.”
“[A]s with President Trump final evening, DOJ selected this pointless and aggressive motion as an alternative of merely contacting my attorneys. These sorts of banana republic ways ought to concern each Citizen — particularly contemplating the choice earlier than Congress this week to rent 87,000 new IRS brokers to additional persecute law-abiding Residents,” the Perry assertion stated.
Perry has been the topic of scrutiny by the Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol. The committee issued a subpoena to Perry, however he has refused to cooperate with the panel.
The committee’s subpoena stated that Perry was “straight concerned” with efforts to make Division of Justice legal professional Jeffrey Clark the appearing legal professional common. Clark was a key determine in Trump’s election fraud probes that different administration officers balked at.
The committee has additionally stated that Perry was certainly one of a number of Home Republicans who sought a pardon from Trump, which he has denied.