A federal judge late Tuesday allowed prosecutors access to nearly 1,700 text messages from Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), concluding after a personal review that his communications in the lead-up to Jan. 6, 2021, are not protected through his role as a lawmaker.
The decision is a loss for Perry, whose phone was seized by prosecutors in August of last year, kicking off a lengthy legal battle to shield the communications from a Justice Department investigating the effort to block the transfer of power.
At the center of the case is whether the Speech and Debate Clause shields from review Perry’s text messages — which court documents accidentally unsealed last month show include his communications with Jeffrey Clark. Former President Trump weighed installing the Justice Department lawyer as attorney general in a bid to advance investigations into his faulty election fraud claims.
Chief U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg parsed through the contents of the phone following a decision from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals that rejected his predecessors’ determination that “informal fact finding” was not legislative business and therefore not covered by the Speech and Debate Clause. Perry’s legal team argued such communications are always protected.
A three-judge panel rejected both arguments, asking Boasberg for an on-camera review of the 2,055 communications prior Chief Judge Beryl Howell ordered turned over, the bulk of the 2,219 records Perry fought to shield.
Boasberg’s review with the new guidance largely backed Howell’s determination, allowing Perry to withhold 396 messages dealing with his efforts to get information on election fraud but turning over the remaining 1,659.
Perry’s role within Trump’s efforts to stay in power is still not entirely known, but his records were sought alongside others who played key roles ahead of Jan. 6, including Clark and a suite of Trump attorneys.
One of the exchanges briefly unsealed between Perry and Clark show them discussing the lawyer’s possible appointment as acting attorney general, with Perry assuring him that, “God does what he does for a reason.”
Perry did not comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack.
The Hill has reached out to Perry for comment.
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