PA Congressman Scott Perry Refuses to Sit for Deposition with Jan. 6 Committee

The US House committee subpoenaed US Rep. Scott Perry earlier this month citing his “direct involvement” in attempts to undermine the election results, but Perry called the committee “illegitimate” and didn’t attend his scheduled deposition Thursday.

PA Congressman Scott Perry refused to sit for his scheduled deposition Thursday with the US House Committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Perry’s Washington DC attorney sent a five-page letter to the Select Committee reiterating Perry’s belief that the committee has overstepped its authority and that the subpoena was not properly served making it null and void.

In the letter dated May 24, attorney John P. Rowley III said Perry does not recognize the “legitimacy” of a committee focused more on “scoring political points” than on the “troublemakers” who broke into the Capitol.

“Mr. Perry has the greatest respect for our American constitutional republic and the House of Representatives,” Rowley’s letter said. “He cannot, however, in good conscience comply with an improper subpoena issued by a Select Committee that is not duly constituted, has failed to follow its own rules, and that, shockingly, is abusing its authority to target members of the opposing political party.”

Perry attended a Memorial Day service in New Cumberland Thursday instead of cooperating in the insurrection investigation.

In December, the committee requested an interview and phone records from the five-term Dauphin County congressman. He denied their requests.

Perry was among five Republicans ordered to appear before the committee earlier this month. In a statement, the House committee said Perry was “directly involved with efforts to corrupt the Department of Justice and install Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General. In addition, Mr. Perry had various communications with the White House about a number of matters relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation, including allegations that Dominion voting machines had been corrupted.”

In December, the committee requested an interview and phone records from the five-term Dauphin County congressman. He denied their requests.

The committee was seeking information about meetings Perry had with former President Donald Trump prior to the attack on the US Capitol where they discussed strategies about how to block the results at the Jan. 6 electoral count.

Also Thursday, news outlet Politico reported that a former aide Trump chief of staff Mark Meadows—and one-time Congressional colleague of Perry’s—testified before the committee that she saw Meadows burn papers after a meeting with Perry in the weeks after the election. The substance of the materials that were destroyed is not clear, nor if they were records that were required to be preserved.