Harrisburg Area Congressman Scott Perry finds himself in the middle of the latest revelation about former President Donald J. Trump’s refusal to oust President Joseph R. Biden Jr. to accept his election victory last year, and Trump’s seemingly relentless schemes to try to undo it.
Perry was identified in a New York Times report on Saturday night as the person Trump proposed to a senior U.S. Attorney General, who was open to Trump’s unsubstantiated allegations of election fraud and, according to the Times’ report, may be interested. was to walk around a to more senior leaders who had steadfastly rejected them.
In an earlier report Friday, the Times described the scheme that revolved around attorney Jeffrey Clark, in which Trump apparently discussed acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen in the days of his administration and replaced him with Clark, and to see if it did not. new can not give. juice to thwart Biden’s victory at the state or federal level.
Biden was sworn in on January 20.
Clark, when the alleged conspiracy came together, was the acting assistant attorney general of the civil division. The Times also reported that he claimed that some aspects of the Times’ reports on the situation – based on interviews with four other DOJ officials – were incorrect.
Clark also told The Times that he had no talks with Mr. Trump or Justice Department attorneys could not discuss because of the “severity of legal privilege … Attorneys for the Department of Justice, not uncommonly, provide legal advice to the White House as part of our duties,” he said. “All my official communication is in accordance with the law.”
Perry, a Conservative Republican from North York County who has just been re-elected to his fifth term in the House of Representatives, did not respond to text messages or phone messages PennLive left behind on Saturday, first left in an attempt to to determine if he may have been the nameless “Pennsylvania politician” who identified the Times in his initial report as the channel between Clark and Trump.
As a result, it was not clear on Saturday night what Perry’s role in the ongoing Trump was – Clark talks, if any, other than first introducing Clark to the president as someone who, as the Times reports, ‘agrees that fraud affected election results. ”
The Times also said in its report that he could not get any answers from Perry.
Perry responded by email to a PennLive question about whether he accepted Biden’s election last week, saying he did, although he still has fundamental problems with the way the election was conducted in Pennsylvania.
In fact, he was the leader of the word fight to invalidate the 20 electoral college votes in Pennsylvania earlier this month, in the hours after police and members of the National Guard reclaimed the U.S. capital from pro-Trump crowds that stormed violently. . the building during the congressional session on January 6th.
Here’s Perry’s email response to PennLive from Jan. 15 about whether he doubts the validity of Biden’s victory in Pennsylvania.
“Whether you identify as a Republican, Democrat, Independent or otherwise, American voters must trust that their vote has been counted, and just as well trust that no illegal vote has nullified their vote. It is not and has never been about one person or about achieving a certain outcome. It is a mission to ensure the preservation of the heart of our Republic – a free and fair election.
‘There are still unresolved issues that will be investigated by the Pennsylvania House and the courts in the next few weeks. Ultimately, we must hope that all Pennsylvania residents can look each other in the eye and know without any doubt that their election is safe and that their voices are heard equally well.
‘While our objection, as prescribed by the Constitution, ultimately failed, the constitutional concerns of my constituents were acknowledged by the Speaker and broadcast before our nation in accordance with the sacred process intended by our founders and codified by the Constitution. Congress has maintained its duty and Joe Biden has been certified as the president-elect of the 2020 election.
‘I accept the results and still respect the office of the President of the United States – no matter who sits in it. However, I intend to continue to work with my colleagues at the state and federal level to strengthen the integrity of the election to ensure that this constitutional abuse never happens again. We simply need to have confidence in our electoral system – and recover -. The future of our Republic, and the millions of Americans who fought and sacrificed for it, deserve nothing less. ”
Eventually, the attempt to replace Rosen by Clark was abandoned. According to the Times report, this happened because virtually the entire rank of top executives at the Department of Justice learned of the effort and indicated that they would resign en masse, and Trump was ultimately concerned that the mass exodus was just his declining efforts to stay , would further undercut. in the office.
For a lawmaker willing to shoot from the hip, regularly exposing himself to ridicule by critics and even shrinking some supporters, the latest episode could still put Perry on the national radar for the most part.
Next month, Trump will face charges in the U.S. Senate on charges of inciting violence at the Capitol this month. And the plot to carry out an 11th-hour Justice Department conversion – which was particularly focused on the attack on Biden’s election victory in Georgia – could contribute to the argument that Trump is willing to hold anything in office. keep.
One emerging state Democrat has already called on Perry to resign from office on Saturday night: “Scott Perry, this is not the first time you’re a national embarrassment, but it’s your last resignation,” said Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta, D-Philadelphia.
And Attorney General Josh Shapiro fired a tweet in which he asked for ‘consequences’ for Perry’s actions.
Top Republicans who spoke to PennLive earlier Saturday and were unaware of Perry’s involvement in the DOJ scheme said Trump’s fascination with overthrowing Georgia’s results appears to be due to the fact that the loss was his campaign most surprised, and that it was the nearest of the swing states.
The Trump campaign apparently hoped, they added, that if they could block Georgia, other states could follow suit until Biden’s majority of the electoral college was undone.
The Times story Saturday night that identified the ‘politician in Pennsylvania’ as Perry wrote about him and Clark in the context that their involvement showed how Trump in his last weeks was increasingly willing to give audiences to lower-level officials when they superiors or elected leadership do not tell him what he wants to hear.
It was not clear how or when he met Clark, a Philadelphia resident, but someone who had spent the vast majority of his professional career in Washington DC, either in private practice or at the Department of Justice.
Telephone messages that PennLive left through Clark’s home in Fairfax County, Virginia, through the day of Saturday also remained unanswered.