Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., and members of the House Freedom Caucus conduct a news conference to call on Attorney General William Barr to release findings of an investigation into allegations of 2020 election fraud, outside the Capitol on Thursday, December 3, 2020.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Rep. Scott Perry, the first lawmaker to be asked to answer questions from the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, on Tuesday said he would refuse to cooperate with the probe.
The Pennsylvania Republican in a pair of tweets called the congressional select committee “illegitimate” and “not duly constituted” under the rules of the House.
“I decline this entity’s request,” Perry tweeted.
The House panel is investigating the Jan. 6 invasion, when hundreds of former President Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the Capitol and forced lawmakers to flee their chambers, temporarily stopping them from confirming President Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. Many members of the mob were spurred by Trump’s false claim that the 2020 election was “rigged” against him through widespread fraud.
Perry is one of dozens of Republican lawmakers who voted to challenge the Electoral College results of a key state won by Biden after the rioters were cleared out of the Capitol.
Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., in a letter Monday asked for Perry to voluntarily cooperate with the panel by meeting with its members and handing over an array of records, including his communications with Trump and his legal team.
“The Select Committee has tremendous respect for the prerogatives of Congress and the privacy of its Members. At the same time, we have a solemn responsibility to investigate fully all of these facts and circumstances,” Thompson wrote.
The letter referenced evidence that the congressman was linked to Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice official who has clashed with the select committee’s efforts to have him testify as part of the probe.
A spokesman for the Jan. 6 probe did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on Perry’s statement.
This is developing news. Please check back for updates.
