Pennsylvania lawmakers subpoenaed in probe over fake electors scheme, report says
Sources claim federal investigators were seeking information on Trump ally Scott Perry’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election
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FBI officers subpoenaed Republican state lawmakers in Pennsylvania as part of their investigation into a scheme to install fake electors in 2020, according to a new report.
PennLive reported that federal investigators visited the offices of House and Senate lawmakers in the Pennsylvania Capitol on Wednesday, citing multiple sources.
Sources told PennLive that federal investigators had been seeking information related to House GOP congressman Scott Perry’s involvement in a plan to send alternate electors in order for Donald Trump to remain in power.
It came a day after Mr Perry had his cell phone confiscated by the FBI.
Mr Perry, who played a major role in pushing the former president’s false claims that the election was stolen, told Fox News he was “outraged though not surprised”.
He called the seizure of his phone while he was traveling with his family “banana republic tactics”.
During January 6 hearings in June, the committee heard testimony that Mr Perry had pressed acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen to investigate an outlandish claim that Italian satellites had been used to flip votes from Mr Trump to Joe Biden.
The committee stated that Mr Perry “was directly involved with efforts to corrupt the Department of Justice and install Jeffrey Clark as acting Attorney General”, in a statement in May.
According to vice chair Liz Cheney, Mr Perry contacted the White House in the weeks after the January 6 insurrection to allegedly seek a pardon. Mr Perry has strongly denied this.
In a statement to PennLive on Wednesday night, Mr Perry said he had been told he was not a target of the investigation.
“In a discussion with the DOJ, my attorneys were informed that I’m not a target of its investigation,” the statement read.
“I’ve directed them to cooperate with the Justice Department in order to ensure that it gets the information to which it’s entitled, but to protect information to which it’s not - including communications that are protected under the speech and debate clause of the United States Constitution.”
The Independent has attempted to reach Mr Perry for comment.
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