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Republican Rep. Scott Perry says that the FBI confiscated his personal cellphone one day after FBI agents raided former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
‘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,’ Perry said in a statement to Fox News on Tuesday.
‘My phone contains info about my legislative and political activities, and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents, and friends. None of this is the government’s business.’
Perry said that while he and his family were traveling earlier Tuesday, he was approached by three FBI agents who handed him a warrant and seized his cellphone.
Republican Rep. Scott Perry says that the FBI confiscated his personal cellphone one day after FBI agents raided former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home
Perry, a loyal Trump ally, is an original member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and took over as the group’s leader at the beginning of the year, Fox News reported
‘They made no attempt to contact my lawyer, who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish,’ he said.
Perry, a loyal Trump ally, is an original member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and took over as the group’s leader at the beginning of the year, Fox News reported.
The confiscation of Perry’s phone comes just one day after FBI agents descended on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in what Perry called in his statement an ‘unnecessary and aggressive action.’
‘As with President Trump last night, DOJ chose this unnecessary and aggressive action instead of simply contacting my attorneys,’ he stated.
‘These kinds of banana republic tactics should concern every Citizen — especially considering the decision before Congress this week to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to further persecute law-abiding Citizens.’
The FBI raid on Monday was related to Trump’s removal of classified documents from the White House and not the Department of Justice’s investigation into January 6, The New York Times reported.
Mar-a-Lago, Trump said, ‘is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.’
‘After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate,’ Trump said.
The confiscation of Perry’s phone comes just one day after FBI agents descended on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home in what Perry called in his statement an ‘unnecessary and aggressive action’
Trump later put out a campaign-style video warning that ‘we are a nation that has weaponized its law enforcement against the opposing political party, like never before.’
Trump is mulling running for president again in 2024.
Politico reported Tuesday that Trumpworld is keeping tabs on the Republicans who are leaping to the ex-president’s defense.
‘They’re going to drastically use this to rally their allies, GOP leaders on Capitol Hill and juice for his political agenda and run for 2024,’ one source close to the former president told Politico.
‘If there was a 99 percent chance it’s 100 percent now. He makes it part of his platform – going after the FBI,’ the source said of Trump’s White House ambitions.
Leading members of the party including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, RNC chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel and House Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik sent out furious statements about the raid.
McCarthy told Attorney General Merrick Garland via Twitter to ‘preserve your documents and clear your calendar.’
‘I’ve seen enough,’ he wrote. ‘The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization.
Former President Donald Trump was spotted leaving Trump Tower in New York on Monday night after announcing his Mar-a-Lago home had been raided by the FBI. He’ll have dinner with a dozen House Republicans Tuesday night
Republican leader Kevin McCarthy called out US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Twitter, telling him ‘preserve your documents and clear your calendar’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called the raid ‘rogue behavior of communist countries, NOT the United States of America!!!’
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a prominent member of the Republican Study Committee, the largest conservative caucus in the House of Representatives, called the raid ‘rogue behavior of communist countries, NOT the United States of America!!!’
‘These are the type of things that happen in countries during civil war. The political persecution MUST STOP!!!’ she tweeted.
Rep. Lauren Boebert, another prominent member of the Republican Study Committee, tweeted that the DOJ ‘must be held accountable.’
‘Biden’s FBI just raided the house of the man most likely to be the Republican Presidential nominee in 2024…on top of all the other fake investigations into President Trump. Stop weaponizing federal agencies to distract from your own failed agenda!’ Boebert said.
‘The GOP must set up a Select Committee to investigate the FBI’s politically-motivated raid on Mar-a-Lago and on ALL the fraudulent persecution of President Trump from our government,’ she continued. This cannot wait. We are turning into a banana republic at record speed.’