A Judge Mandates: That Representative Scott Perry Reveal 1,600 Messages Now
A judge mandates that Representative Scott Perry reveal 1,600 messages to federal prosecutors.
The documents may be able to close significant gaps in special counsel Jack Smith’s examination of Trump’s meddling in the election.
On Tuesday, a federal judge made a ruling requiring Rep. Scott Perry to provide federal prosecutors with over 1,600 emails, texts, and other correspondence pertaining to the probe into the attempt by Donald Trump and his associates to rig the 2020 election.
A Judge Mandates: That Representative Scott Perry Reveal 1,600 Messages Now
Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg came to the conclusion that Perry’s constitutional protections as a member of Congress could not shield prosecutors from viewing the vast majority of the messages Perry exchanged with other members of Congress, members of the Trump administration, and allies outside of government.
Instead, Boasberg came to the conclusion that the 1,659 were not covered by the Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which forbids prosecutors and courts from interfering with Congress’s official business, because they had nothing to do with Perry’s work as a legislator.
The disputed documents might be able to close significant holes in special counsel Jack Smith’s probe.
Important details of the messages Perry had tried to hide from Smith’s team were exposed in an unintentionally released court document that POLITICO was able to obtain last month.
These details included conversations with Trump’s suspected accomplices in the attempt to obstruct the transfer of power. The correspondence demonstrated Perry’s pivotal role as Trump and his allies’ go-between on important issues during the last anxious weeks of Trump’s presidency.
Perry’s lawyer stated that he has not yet decided if he will file an appeal against Boasberg’s decision.
In August 2022, Perry’s phone was taken by the FBI as part of their probe into former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, a major ally of Trump in his attempt to obstruct the transfer of power.
In the last few weeks of Trump’s presidency, Perry introduced him to Clark and pushed for Clark’s promotion to head of the Justice Department.
As part of a desperate attempt to use the Justice Department to cast doubt on the election’s outcome, Trump almost named Clark acting attorney general before backing down in response to a widespread resignation threat from DOJ and White House officials.
A Judge Mandates: That Representative Scott Perry Reveal 1,600 Messages Now
Boasberg’s order essentially upholds a decision rendered by his predecessor, U.S. District Judge, almost a year ago.
Judge Beryl Howell determined that only roughly 200 communications were shielded from prosecution, meaning Perry had to reveal 2,055 that he had tried to conceal.
Howell decided that since Perry was not given permission by any House committee to look into election fraud, his “informal” attempts to do so were not protected by the “speech or debate” clause.
Howell further decided that since Perry was trying to influence the executive branch and pursue political goals rather than legislative ones, many of his contacts with members of the Trump administration could not be protected.
He was attempting to sway the Pennsylvania state legislature in other correspondence.
Perry challenged Howell’s decision in January, and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals swiftly halted her judgment while taking the case into consideration before concluding that Howell had gone too far, for an additional eight months.
Rather, the circuit ordered Boasberg, who had by then succeeded Howell as chief of the district court in Washington, D.C., to examine all 2,055 emails Perry was trying to hide and determine if they could be made public.
In the end, Boasberg concurred that almost all of Howell’s preliminary conclusions were accurate.
Perry concluded that the great majority of his communications with executive branch officials and outside allies were “non-legislative” in nature and could not be kept secret from investigators, even though some of them were connected to his lawful work as a legislator.
Boasberg added that messages Perry exchanged with Vice President Mike Pence regarding efforts to settle disagreements over electoral votes were too unrelated to Perry’s actual legislative responsibilities to be considered.
A Judge Mandates: That Representative Scott Perry Reveal 1,600 Messages Now
for defense. Pence finally came to the conclusion that he lacked the authority to decide which electoral vote slates were legitimate.
To this report, Josh Gerstein contributed.
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