Rep. Scott Perry could face sanctions for ignoring a congressional subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The Jan. 6 committee referred the Pennsylvania congressman and three other Congress members to the Ethics Committee on Monday for potential action. Perry represents Pennsylvania's 10th District, which spans Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York counties.
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Perry has long been a person of interest in the committee's investigation into the attack, which left five people dead and about 140 injured. As laid out in a summary released by the committee, Perry participated in numerous conversations with Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff, about installing Jeffrey Clark as U.S. Attorney General. He also pushed for former President Trump to speak at the Capitol while the 2020 election results were being certified on Jan. 6, and participated in a call with Trump and Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio, about encouraging supporters via social media to march on the Capitol.
According to the summary timeline, Perry introduced Clark, a Philadelphia-born Justice Department official, to Trump in December 2020, apparently behind Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen's back. Despite a reprimand from Rosen, Clark continued to meet with Trump and Perry in secret. The goal was "to enlist Clark to reverse the Department of Justice's findings regarding the election and help overturn the election outcome," the summary read.
The report cited several text messages between Clark and Meadows in the lead up to Jan. 6, including, "11 days to 1/6 and 25 days to inauguration. We gotta get going!" Perry also asked Meadows to call Clark because "the principal deputy won't work especially with the FBI. They will view it as as [sic] not having the authority to enforce what needs to be done." The FBI seized Perry's cell phone in August.
Cassidy Hutchinson, a former assistant to Meadows, told the committee in June that Perry had asked Trump for a preemptive presidential pardon for his conduct in the weeks preceding Jan. 6. Perry has denied this claim.
Perry was subpoenaed in May, but dismissed the Jan. 6 committee's investigation as a "political witch hunt."
The committee also recommended four criminal charges against Trump on Monday.
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