Judge orders Trump ally Scott Perry to turn over "incendiary" evidence to Jack Smith
Judge orders Trump ally Scott Perry to turn over "incendiary" evidence to Jack Smith
Texts "may shed light on his involvement in Trump's plan to use DOJ to push the big lie," ex-prosecutor says.
Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., must disclose to federal prosecutors more than 1,600 text messages, emails and other communications related to the investigation into Donald Trump and his allies' attempts to overturn the 2020 election, a federal judge ruled Tuesday. Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg found that the majority of the messages between Perry and other members of Congress, members of the Trump administration and allies outside of the government could not be concealed from prosecutors by the representative's constitutional protections as a member of Congress, Politico reports.
Why arent they asking the phone company and why havent they hacked his phone like they do to any other defendant?
I think it's not a question of if they can get them. It's a question of if they can use them.
They can legally seize them with a warrant. But that usually only happens if the target might attempt to destroy evidence or otherwise not cooperate.
They can also legally compel the target during execution of said warrant to provide their biometrics (but not their passcode) to unlock the devices.
I'm pretty sure that they already have all the messages. In the linked article it says:
Boasberg's order backs a decision made almost a year ago by U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell, who found that Perry was required to share with prosecutors 2,055 communications he had attempted to hide, with only about 200 actually shielded.
There were originally 2,055 communications that he tried to hide, and the court has now said that 1,659 of them are not protected by the Speech and Debate clause. That means that the court must have reviewed all those messages in order to come to that conclusion.
The court is essentially telling him to consent to the messages being made available to investigators or to appeal the ruling, which he probably will. Eventually, assuming the ruling isn't overturned, the court will allow the Justice Department to use the messages in their investigation without his consent since he has no grounds to refuse.
Article I Section 6 of the Constitution
For the lazy:
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
Honest question, how does that apply here?
"Boasberg found that the majority of the messages between Perry and other members of Congress, members of the Trump administration and allies outside of the government could not be concealed from prosecutors"
Sooo... sounds like a whole bunch of volunteers for 14th Amendment exclusion...
I am more surprised that he still has them to turn over. What kept him from deleting them all?
Government devices + mandatory backups? (shrug)
Excellent.
Assuming the order is followed.
If he doesn't, they'll get a warrant to have them delivered by the phone company, et al., and then they'll prosecute him for noncompliance. Either way, this isn't about if the evidence can be obtained, but more a statement of its upcoming use in the case.