December 22, 2021
Representative Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania), a central figure in Donald Trump’s effort to weaponize the Justice Department in support of his false election fraud claims, is refusing to cooperate with the House’s January 6 select committee, reports Politico’s Congress Minutes.
Perry rejected an interview request from the panel on Tuesday, December 21—a day after the committee asked him to appear voluntarily.
In a statement, Perry said: “I decline this entity’s request and will continue to fight the failures of the radical Left who desperately seek distraction from their abject failures of crushing inflation, a humiliating surrender in Afghanistan, and the horrendous crisis they created at our border.”
His refusal sets up a potentially unprecedented confrontation between the committee and a fellow member of the House.
The select panel sent Perry— the recently elected chair of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus—a letter on Monday evening asking for an interview, as well as documents related to its inquiry into the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol and Trump’s efforts to pressure the Department of Justice to intervene in the 2020 election.
Panel Chair Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi) said in a letter to Perry that they had uncovered evidence linking the Pennsylvania Republican to the meddling at the Department of Justice as well as texts and communications—including over the encrypted app Signa —with then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
The panel also said it had evidence of Perry’s communications with the White House and others involved with conspiracy theories about voting machines made by Dominion.
Despite legal challenges to the committee’s legitimacy, federal courts have repeatedly found the panel to be duly authorized and pursuing a legitimate legislative goal.
A spokesperson for the committee did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Research contact: @politico
