Skip to main content
News

SHOT/CHASER: Rep. Scott Perry’s Legal Woes

By August 10, 2022No Comments

SHOT: “Scott Perry asked the White House about a pardon after the Jan. 6 attack.” [Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/29/22]

CHASER: “Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said Tuesday that the FBI had seized his cell phone.” [CNN, 8/10/22]

More about MAGA Republican Scott Perry: 

Scott Perry Was Involved In Nearly Every Attempt To Overturn The Election. Cassidy Hutchinson, an aide to former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, referred to Perry as “one that immediately jumps to mind as me recalling him physically being there and then pushing back.” Perry participated in meetings with White House staff as they strategized overturning the results, engaged directly with acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue regarding his election conspiracy theories, and led the objection to counting Pennsylvania’s electoral votes. Hutchinson also testified that she witnessed Meadows burning papers in his White House office immediately following a meeting with Perry. Perry is currently under subpoena by the January 6 committee and is seeking reelection with Trump’s endorsement in 2022. Just days after the violent attack on the Capitol, Perry requested a presidential pardon from Hutchinson. 

Perry Repeatedly Urged The White House To Act On Debunked Conspiracies. Just days after the 2020 election, Perry was in contact with White House Chief of Staff, Mark Meadows, requesting action on debunked conspiracy theories. 

  • Chinese Interference. In a November 12th text message to Meadows, Perry urgently requested that former Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, order the National Security Agency to investigate the conspiracy theory that China interfered with Dominion voting machines, writing, “From an Intel friend: DNI needs to task NSA to immediately seize and begin looking for international comms related to Dominion.” 
  • British & CIA Interference. Also on November 12th, Perry sent another message to Meadows, making the outrageous claim that the British government was involved in a conspiracy to hack voting machines and Gina Haspel, the former CIA Director, was somehow providing cover for the operation. Perry wrote, “And Gina is still running around on the Hill covering for the Brits who helped quarterback this entire operation. DNI needs to be tasked to audit their overseas accounts at CIA – and their National Endowment for Democracy.” 
  • Italian Interference. In December, Perry sent a YouTube video over text to Meadows, that described 2020 votes being manipulated by Italian satellites, demanding, “Why can’t we just work with the Italian government?” This communication resulted in Meadows forwarding the video to former acting Attorney General, Jeffrey Rosen. Rosen refused to engage, citing Rudy Giuliani’s involvement and requests for special treatment regarding the conspiracy. Despite Rosen’s response and former acting Deputy Attorney General, Richard Donoghue calling the conspiracy “pure insanity” and “patently absurd”, Perry’s suggestion continued to circulate. Ultimately, Meadows requested former acting Defense Secretary, Christopher Miller, to contact the Defense attache in Rome, who reiterated that the conspiracy had no merit. 

Perry Was Directly Involved In Planning Trump’s Movement To The Capitol On January 6. In testimony from Cassidy Hutchinson, it was revealed that Rep. Perry was involved in discussions with Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani about former President Trump traveling to the Capitol on January 6. According to Hutchinson, Perry was actively a part of conversations regarding Trump accompanying insurrectionists to the Capitol and brainstorming what activities would take place. In a shocking revelation, Hutchinson revealed the former U.S. brigadier general had been tentatively planning to have Trump walk onto the floor of the House while members of Congress were voting to certify the electoral victory of his opponent, stating “I know that there was a conversation about him going into the House chamber at one point.” Perry later denied all involvement in such discussions.

Perry Directly Attempted To Corrupt The Department Of Justice. A letter sent to Perry from the Select Committee stated Perry “had an important role in the efforts to install Mr. Clark as acting Attorney General [and] had multiple text and other communications with President Trump’s former Chief of Staff regarding Mr. Clark…”. Perry — who wished to install Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official sympathetic to Trump, to attorney general after Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen refused to pursue disproven voter fraud conspiracies — was the first individual to directly connect the former president and Clark. Testimony from senior DOJ officials and members of White House counsel demonstrates how close Clark came to becoming the acting attorney general, a position he would have used to weaponize the Justice Department in order to perpetuate election conspiracies and overturn the election. 

Perry Attempted To Influence State Officials. While Perry was deeply involved in efforts to overturn the election at the federal level, he also worked to undermine the electoral process among Pennsylvania state legislators. On November 21, then Chief of Staff Mark Meadows used Perry to create a bridge between Trump and Pennsylvania legislators, with Meadows writing, “Can you send me the number for the speaker and the leader of PA Legislature. POTUS wants to chat with them.” Just weeks later 57, Republican state representatives and 19 Republican state senators wrote letters to the Pennsylvania congressional delegation, asking they delay or object to the state’s Electoral College vote, which eight of the nine Republican members of the House from Pennsylvania voted to do on January 6, following the violent attack on the Capitol.