Scott Perry.Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty
The bipartisan committee investigating the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol riots is seeking more information from Republican Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania lawmaker who has been linked to a plan to oust the former acting attorney general in favor of an official who would bolsterDonald Trump’s unfounded claims of election fraud and keep Trump in the White House.
In a statement, Perry said he did not recognize the authority of the House of Representatives panel but had, he insisted, “immense respect for our Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the Americans I represent.”
In theirletter sent to Perryon Monday, the House committee said it “received evidence from multiple witnesses that [Perry] had an important role in the efforts to install” Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general in the weeks leading up to the election being certified.
Earlier this year, Clark had to deny a lengthyNew York Timesreport that he had"been devising ways to cast doubt on the election results."
The committee letter requests additional information from Perry and requests that he speak with investigators either later this month or in the new year.
AccordingtoThe Washington Post, it’s unclear if he would be subject to the panel’s subpoena and enforcement powers as a sitting legislator.
“In addition, we have information indicating that you communicated at various relevant times with the White House and others involved in other relevant topics, including regarding allegations that the Dominion voting machines had been corrupted,” the letter to Perry continues.
In his statement, Perry said he wouldn’t be cooperating and took aim at other issues.
“I stand with immense respect for our Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the Americans I represent who know that this entity is illegitimate, and not duly constituted under the rules of the US House of Representatives,” he 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 and refuse to address at our southern border.”
Former Chief of Staff Meadows, former senior advisers to the presidentStephen MillerandJason Miller; former White House Press SecretaryKayleigh McEnany; Trump’s re-election campaign manager, Bill Stepien; and former National Security AdvisorMichael Flynnhave all been compelled to bring forward documents related to the investigation.
TheTimesreported that the meeting, held at Trump’s campaign office in Arlington, Virginia, saw the aides devise a strategy of attacking the election as tainted and alleging voter fraud as a means ofkeeping Trump in office.
Numerous state audits, recounts and legal attempts to overturn the results have since reaffirmed Biden’s win, however. Elections officials and judges across the country and the political spectrum have said there is no evidence of widespread wrongdoing.
Trump, 75, has repeatedly dismissed the investigation as a politically motivated “witch hunt.” In the hours after the January attack, Trump sent contradictory messages, both praising the group but urging them to be peaceful and return home.
source: people.com
