House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry (R-PA) confirmed he has received his cellphone back after it was seized on Tuesday as part of the Justice Department’s investigation into the use of fake electors to try to overturn 2020 election results.
“Nothing really to update — got the phone and you live your life,” Perry told the Washington Examiner on Friday.
REPUBLICAN REP. SCOTT PERRY SAYS FBI SEIZED HIS PHONE
Perry was served with a warrant for his cellphone by three FBI agents while traveling with his family, just one day after the FBI raided former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of a separate investigation.
Perry blasted the seizure, calling the move a “banana republic tactic.”
“They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish. I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress,” he said in a statement. “My phone contains info about my legislative and political activities, and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents, and friends. None of this is the government’s business.”
The congressman was traveling with his family on Tuesday when three FBI agents approached and served him with a warrant for his cellphone, Perry told the Washington Examiner. It’s not clear why the FBI confiscated his phone, but Perry said his attorneys were told he is not a target of its investigation.
“I’ve directed them to cooperate with the Justice Department in order to ensure that it gets the information to which it’s entitled but to protect information to which it’s not — including communications that are protected under the speech and debate clause of the United States Constitution,” he said.
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Perry has come under fire over allegations he played a role in crafting a plan to seek alternate electors as a way to keep Trump in power.
In addition to Perry, federal investigators were sent to multiple Pennsylvania House and Senate Republican offices to meet with and deliver subpoenas in connection to Perry’s alleged role in the plan, PennLive reported.
