GOP Reps. Perry, Biggs formally object to subpoena from House January 6 committee

By Kara Scannell, Annie Grayer and Ryan Nobles, CNN

Republican Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona have formally objected to being subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, according to a source familiar with the matter.

The committee subpoenaed Perry and Biggs along with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Reps. Mo Brooks of Alabama and Jim Jordan of Ohio earlier this month.

A spokesperson for the committee declined to comment.

The committee had asked Perry and Biggs to sit for depositions on Thursday, and they filed letters with the committee objecting to the subpoenas for their testimony, the source told CNN.

In a letter obtained by CNN on Wednesday, Jordan pushed back on his subpoena, questioning its constitutionality and making a list of demands he wants met by the committee before he considers moving forward.

The panel subpoenaed each of the Republican lawmakers after they refused to cooperate voluntarily.

Perry was the first lawmaker the committee sought voluntary cooperation from because of the key role he played in trying to help Trump undermine the 2020 election. Text messages obtained by CNN that came out after the panel’s initial letter, have filled in significant gaps about the role Perry played at almost every turn in scheming to reverse or delay certification of the election.

Text messages selectively provided by Meadows to the committee show that Perry was pushing to have the nation’s top intelligence official investigate baseless conspiracy theories and worked to replace the US acting attorney general with an acolyte willing to do Trump’s bidding.

“From an Intel friend: DNI needs to task NSA to immediately seize and begin looking for international comms related to Dominion,” Perry wrote to Meadows on November 12, 2020, just five days after the election was called for Joe Biden.

In the text, Perry appeared to be urging Meadows to get John Ratcliffe, then-Director of National Intelligence, to order the National Security Agency to investigate debunked claims that Dominion voting machines were hacked by China.

A recent court filing also revealed how Perry played a key role in strategizing with Trump allies about throwing out electoral votes in states Trump lost.

In testimony released in April, former Trump White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson told House investigators about Perry’s role in White House strategy sessions.

“Mr. Perry is one that immediately jumps to mind as me recalling him physically being there and then pushing back,” Hutchinson said, describing how the Pennsylvania Republican clashed with Trump’s White House counsel over whether the plan for states to submit alternate slate of electors was legally sound.

The texts also show that Perry acted as a conduit between Meadows and Justice Department attorney Jeffrey Clark, a relatively obscure official who emerged as a central figure in Trump’s election gambit after the former President nearly named him as acting attorney general days before the US Capitol riot.

The messages draw a direct link between Perry, Clark and the Trump White House-led effort to enlist the Justice Department to help overturn the election.

Last year, the Senate Committee singled out Perry for his role in promoting Trump’s election fraud conspiracies.

The panel reached out to Biggs earlier this month to discuss his participation in planning meetings at the White House and remotely regarding “various aspects of planning for January 6th.”

When seeking Biggs’ voluntary cooperation, the committee said it wanted to understand “precisely” what he knew before the violence on January 6, “about the purposes, planning, and expectations for the march on the Capitol.”

Biggs also was communicating with Meadows about efforts to persuade state legislators that the 2020 election was stolen, and sought their help in trying to overturn the election, according to the communications in the committee’s possession.

After the committee released his subpoena, Perry would not answer when asked if he would comply.

“This is all for headlines and sensationalism,” Perry told CNN May 12. “The fact that they sent it to the press before they send it to the members is just proof it’s all about headlines. This whole thing is a charade.”

Lawmakers on the panel have been weighing whether to subpoena their Republican colleagues for months, wrestling with whether they had the constitutional right to do so, and debating if they wanted to set such a precedent.

The-CNN-Wire
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