U.S. Rep. Scott Perry has dropped a lawsuit against the FBI after they seized his cell phone and copied its contents to find links to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The FBI seized Perry’s phone on Aug. 9 while he was on vacation in New Jersey, created an image of the phone and returned it to Perry the same day, according to the lawsuit.
Perry said he would cooperate with investigators but filed a lawsuit saying his phone’s data was protected by the “speech and debate clause” of the U.S. Constitution, intended to give members of Congress broad freedom to speak and debate without fear of intimidation or threats from the executive branch.
On Wednesday, Perry dropped the lawsuit, without additional explanation.
JUST IN: Rep. Scott Perry, whose phone was seized by the FBI, is dropping his lawsuit to recover the data taken by prosecutors. He had already held it in abeyance signaling productive discussions — it appears they resolved (or agreed not to resolve) any privilege issues. pic.twitter.com/jqZrcSeHlP
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 26, 2022
“We are pleased with the cooperative spirit of the discussions that have taken place, and we have voluntarily dismissed our motion for an injunction. We intend to continue those constructive discussions to resolve the matter. We have no further comment at this time,” Perry’s attorney, John Irving, said.
At the time of filing, Perry wanted the data returned to him so he can decide which contents are protected and which aren’t, according to the lawsuit. He chalked the seizure up to ” overreach and abuse of power by the Biden administration.”
Irving said that at the time of Perry filing the lawsuit, investigators did not consider him a target of the investigation.
Perry, a Republican whose district includes Dauphin County and parts of Cumberland and York counties, has been a focus of the U.S. House special committee investigating events leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The committee has presented evidence it says shows Perry was a key player in former President Donald Trump’s unsuccessful efforts to appoint an attorney general who supported unproven claims of election fraud, and would help overturn results of the 2020 election and keep Trump in power.
