Republican House Member Refuses to Meet With Jan. 6 Committee

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Representative Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who worked with Donald Trump successful an effort to overturn the predetermination results past year, called the sheet illegitimate.

Representative Scott Perry speaking astatine  a “Stop the Steal” rally successful  Pennsylvania past  year.
Credit...Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times

Dec. 21, 2021Updated 5:32 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON — Representative Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican intimately progressive successful erstwhile President Donald J. Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election, said connected Tuesday that helium was refusing to conscionable with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 onslaught connected the Capitol, joining a tiny radical of Mr. Trump’s allies who person stonewalled the panel.

Mr. Perry, the incoming president of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus, called the committee “illegitimate.”

“I diminution this entity’s petition and volition proceed to combat the failures of the extremist Left who desperately question distraction from their abject failures of crushing inflation, a humiliating surrender successful Afghanistan, and the horrendous situation they created astatine our border,” Mr. Perry wrote connected Twitter.

The committee sent a missive connected Monday seeking grounds and documents from Mr. Perry, the archetypal nationalist measurement the sheet has taken to effort to get accusation from immoderate of the Republican members of Congress deeply involved successful Mr. Trump’s effort to enactment successful power.

The committee asked Mr. Perry to conscionable with its investigators and voluntarily crook implicit each “relevant physics oregon different communications” related to the buildup to Jan. 6, including his communications with Mr. Trump and his ineligible squad arsenic good arsenic others progressive successful readying rallies connected Jan. 6 and the objections successful Congress to Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory.

To date, the sheet has been reluctant to contented subpoenas for accusation from sitting members of Congress, citing the deference and respect lawmakers successful the enclosure are expected to amusement 1 another. But Representative Bennie Thompson, Democrat of Mississippi and the president of the panel, has pledged to instrumentality specified a measurement if needed.

“Representative Perry has accusation straight applicable to our investigation,” said Tim Mulvey, a committee spokesman. “The prime committee prefers to stitchery applicable grounds from members cooperatively, but if members with straight applicable accusation diminution to cooperate and alternatively endeavor to screen up, the prime committee volition see seeking specified accusation utilizing different tools.”

In refusing to conscionable with the committee, Mr. Perry joins a tiny fig of witnesses who person not cooperated with the panel. More than 300 witnesses person met with investigators, astir voluntarily without receiving a subpoena.

There person been consequences for those who refuse.

The House has voted doubly to clasp allies of Mr. Trump successful transgression contempt of Congress, referring those cases to national prosecutors. A expansive assemblage indicted the erstwhile Trump advisor Stephen K. Bannon — facing charges that transportation up to 2 years successful jailhouse and thousands successful fines — portion Mark Meadows, the erstwhile White House main of staff, awaits a determination from national prosecutors.

Mr. Meadows and Mr. Trump person sued to artifact the merchandise of thousands of records, aft the erstwhile president asserted enforcement privilege implicit a immense array of documents.

Some cardinal witnesses person settled connected the maneuver of invoking their close against self-incrimination to debar answering questions. Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department lawyer who participated successful Mr. Trump’s plans to overturn the election, has said helium would invoke the Fifth Amendment successful effect to questions.

John Eastman, a lawyer who wrote a memo connected however to overturn the election, besides has cited the Fifth Amendment, and a 3rd imaginable witness, the governmental operative Roger J. Stone Jr., invoked his close against self-incrimination past week to each question the committee asked.

Others interviewed by the committee person turned to the courts to artifact its subpoenas for information astir their telephone calls and substance messages. Four witnesses who were progressive successful organizing the rally that preceded the violence — Justin Caporale, Maggie Mulvaney, Megan Powers and Tim Unes — filed suit against Verizon, trying to forestall the institution from turning implicit cellphone information to the committee. Mr. Eastman besides sued, claiming “a highly partisan” penetration of his privacy.

Key Figures successful the Jan. 6 Inquiry


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Ali Alexander, a blimpish activistic and rally organizer for the “Stop the Steal” question who turned implicit thousands of pages of documents to the committee, accused the sheet successful a suit of issuing “an unlawful and overbroad subpoena” that violated his rights to escaped code and privacy.

In his suit, Mr. Alexander said helium was successful interaction with Representatives Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama, each Republicans, successful the buildup to Jan. 6.

“In January, Mr. Alexander held an organizing telephone wherever members of Congress mightiness person been present, and immoderate were invited,” Mr. Alexander’s suit states. “He doesn’t callback who was successful attendance due to the fact that determination was nary rotation telephone of attendees due to the fact that the telephone was truthful large.”

Mr. Perry joined Mr. Gosar, Mr. Biggs and Mr. Brooks successful a campaign to combat the results of the election.

In the weeks aft the election, Mr. Perry compiled a dossier of elector fraud allegations and coordinated a program to effort to regenerate the acting lawyer wide with Mr. Clark. Mr. Perry besides introduced Mr. Trump to Mr. Clark and was communicating with Mr. Meadows via an encrypted app, Signal, the committee said.

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