STANDOFF

Rep. Scott Perry Rejects Jan. 6 Panel’s Request: ‘This Entity Is Illegitimate’

The Republican lawmaker was asked for information on the Capitol riot after witnesses noted his “important role” in Trump’s efforts to overturn the election result.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) has categorically rejected an interview request from the congressional committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot, calling it an “illegitimate” entity. “I stand with immense respect for our Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the Americans I represent who know that this entity is illegitimate, and not duly constituted under the rules of the US House of Representatives,” he said in a statement Tuesday. Democratic chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, sent a letter on Monday night asking Perry to sit for an interview in light of what witnesses had described as his “important role” in Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his election loss. It was the first attempt by the panel to interview a sitting member of Congress. Perry, who disputed Joe Biden’s electoral victory in Pennsylvania, was said to be instrumental in connecting Trump with former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark, who was reportedly at the center of a plot to install an attorney general more willing to toe the line.