AP Photo/Amanda Andrade-Rhoades
- Rep. Scott Perry, a Pennsylvania Republican, said Tuesday that FBI agents had seized his cell phone.
- Perry revealed the alleged seizure of his phone in a statement to Fox News.
- Perry did not say what reason the FBI gave for taking the device.
A key ally of former President Donald Trump is claiming that federal agents seized his cell phone a day after they executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
In a statement provided to Insider, Rep. Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said that on Tuesday morning, "while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone."
Perry denounced the alleged seizure, first reported by Fox News, but did not say what reason the FBI gave him for taking the phone.
"I'm outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland's DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress," he stated.
Perry's office did not provide a copy of the search warrant.
Although Attorney General Merrick Garland was appointed by President Joe Biden, the director of the FBI, Christopher Wray, is a holdover from the Trump administration.
Following the 2020 election, Perry avidly promoted false claims of massive fraud and backed efforts to overturn the results. In text messages obtained by the House committee investigating the January 6 insurrection, Perry urged former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to have US officials "immediately seize" Dominion voting machines, claiming the British government had conspired with the CIA to change election results.
At a December 2020 meeting at the White House, Perry also introduced Trump to Jeffrey Clark, a Justice Department official who promoted a scheme to have Georgia Republicans convene a special session of the state legislature to block Biden's victory. Trump later considered making Clark the acting attorney general.
In June, federal agents searched Clark's home.
The Department of Justice, which is investigating efforts by Trump and his allies to maintain power after losing the 2020 election, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Perry has not been charged with a crime. But in testimony before the January 6 committee, Cassidy Hutchinson, a former Trump White House aide, said Perry was one of a half-dozen Republican lawmakers who later requested a preemptive pardon for their actions related to the 2020 election. Perry has denied the claim, calling it a "soulless lie."
Have a news tip? Email this reporter: cdavis@insider.com
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