The Jan. 6 Committee asked Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) for information about the attack on the Capitol and the Big Lie on Monday. It’s the first time that the committee has publicly turned its investigation of the insurrection towards a sitting member of Congress.
The request says that the panel wants to ask Perry about his Signal communications with former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Perry’s alleged involvement in efforts to hijack the DOJ to keep Trump in office, and the congressman’s involvement in conspiracy theories around Dominion voting machines.
The request came from panel chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) in the form of a letter, and not a subpoena. Perry, along with other far-right House Republicans like Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Paul Gosar (R-AZ), Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and others, publicly stoked rage at the myth that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Trump, and met with the former President and his attorneys in efforts to contest the electoral college certification on Jan. 6.
But, the request notes, Perry reportedly played a key role in the effort to manipulate the DOJ into helping keep Trump in power.
Perry, the letter says, purportedly communicated with Meadows about the effort. Jeffrey Clark, the DOJ official at the center of the reported scheme, has been subpoenaed by the committee but has invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
“When Mr. Clark decided to invoke his 5th Amendment rights, he understood that we planned to pose questions addressing his interactions with you, among a host of other topics,” the letter reads.
From the November 2020 election until January 6, Perry played a role in helping Trump fight his loss in a relatively low profile manner.
Perry, a Senate report found, called a senior DOJ official in late December 2020 and demanded that federal prosecutors probe “things going on in Pennsylvania.” Senate Judiciary Committee investigators also said that Perry arranged a meeting that month between Trump and Clark.
During the vote last week to hold Meadows in contempt of Congress, Perry delayed the proceedings after accusing House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-MD) of “disparaging” another member who voted against certifying the 2020 election.
That action delayed the contempt vote by several hours.
Perry’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.
