January 6th Committee formally targets House Republican Scott Perry
From the start, it’s been fairly clear that the January 6th Committee probe would end up targeting not only Donald Trump, but whichever House Republicans were involved in the insurrection and/or election tampering. Of course the committee had to complete its interviews with numerous cooperative witnesses, in order to obtain evidence and leverage over those House Republicans before targeting them. But now that targeting has begun.
The committee has formally requested that House Republican Scott Perry provide information about his role in the failed attempt to install Jeffrey Clark as Acting Attorney General. According to the Washington Post the committee has also learned that Perry is the one who sent the “Please check your signal” text to Mark Meadows, in apparent reference to the encrypted messaging app. So what does this tell us?
The most interesting aspect here may be that of all the House Republicans who were publicly, reportedly, or allegedly involved in the 2020 election plot, the committee has decided to start with Scott Perry. So why him? Of the six House Republicans recently identified by the New York Times as having been involved in the January 6th plot, Perry has the lowest profile. Perhaps that’s the point; it looks less partisan if the committee starts by targeting a Republican who has zero profile outside his own district, as opposed to starting by targeting a household name like Jim Jordan.
Or perhaps the committee simply has the strongest evidence against Perry, and thus feels it has the most leverage for pressuring him into cooperating. It’s clear that the committee has at least some of Perry’s January 6th communications. And his key role in the Jeffrey Clark scheme puts him near the center of what looks like a felony election tampering plot. The more serious of a criminal referral they can threaten any given witness with, the greater the odds they’ll get useful cooperation out of that witness in exchange for potentially not making a criminal referral.
It’s notable that the committee is starting off by simply requesting Scott Perry’s cooperation, rather than jumping straight to subpoenaing him. This may be in order to avoid looking overzealously partisan. But if Perry refuses to promptly cooperate, it’s overwhelmingly likely that the committee will subpoena him. If he still refuses to cooperate, the committee will surely refer him for criminal contempt, which could lead to his indictment and arrest. Yes, we’re heading toward that stage now.
In any case, the committee’s formal targeting of House Republicans has now begun. Scott Perry is the first, but he surely won’t be the last. The question now becomes whether Perry, or some other House Republican who’s targeted, ends up flipping on the others in an effort to get off the hook. We could also soon be looking at certain House Republicans pleading the fifth – which could be a career killer if they’re in a competitive district.
