The House select committee investigating the events culminating in the the January 6th Capitol riot sent a letter earlier this week to Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, asking him to submit to an interview. It was the first time the panel sought testimony from a sitting member of Congress.
In the letter, the committee explained that it “received evidence from multiple witnesses” that Perry played a key role in the effort to install Jeffrey Clark as Attorney General in the waning days of the Trump administration. Clark was a Department of Justice official who found favor among Trump enthusiasts for his willingness to pursue debunked conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election.
The letter also stated that the committee has information indicating that Perry communicated with the Trump White House about the baseless claim that a voting company committed fraud in order to tilt the election toward Joe Biden.
Perry rejected the committee’s invitation, calling its investigation “illegitimate.”
“I decline this entity’s request and will continue to fight the failures of the radical Left,” Perry said in a statement.
The committee has thus far declined to subpoena Perry, who has a history of spreading misinformation and promoting conspiracy theories. The Washington Post reports:
In the fall of 2017, Perry claimed a former House aide to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) orchestrated “massive” data transfers that amounted to a “substantial security threat,” according to Fox News. The Pakistani American staffer, Imran Awan, was later cleared of stealing government secrets by federal prosecutors.
Around the same time, Perry suggested then-CNN host Chris Cuomo was exaggerating the lack of water and electricity in hurricane-devastated Puerto Rico. “You’re simply just making this stuff up,” Perry said. Hurricane Maria was later tied to nearly 3,000 deaths.
In January 2018, Perry speculated about an Islamic State connection to the mass shooting in Las Vegas the previous year, contradicting law enforcement’s assertion that the accused gunman was working alone. “I smell a rat like a lot of Americans,” he said.
In addition, in October 2020, Perry voted ‘no’ on a resolution to condemn QAnon. In August, he told a journalist that allowing Afghan refugees into the U.S. would result in “little girls raped and killed in the streets.” Earlier this month, he falsely said Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) supports terrorism.
Throughout the pandemic, Perry has consistently expressed doubt about the efficacy of masks and vaccines. He called vaccine mandates “the definition of tyranny.” And he is one of the leading voices in the Stop the Steal movement. More from The Post:
According to the Senate Judiciary report authored by the Democratic majority, Perry was one of the first Republicans to cast doubt on the 2020 election, saying four days after the vote that “legal votes will determine who is POTUS, not the news media.” Perry led the objection to counting Pennsylvania’s electoral votes on the House floor in the hours immediately following the Jan. 6 insurrection. Republicans on Senate panel offered counter-findings, arguing that Trump did not subvert the justice system to remain in power.
“Scott Perry is a conspiracy theorist whose lies have threatened our democracy and torn our country apart. He is duty-bound to answer truthfully for his actions, which have betrayed his oath of office and embarrassed the people of Pennsylvania,” said Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee spokesperson James Singer.
Perry, a combat veteran, currently serves on the House Foreign Affairs and Transportation and Infrastructure committees. In January, he will become the leader of the House Freedom Caucus, a collection of conservative lawmakers who have courted controversy, including Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene.
In that capacity, he’ll play a key role in shaping the future of the GOP.
