Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) quietly dropped his lawsuit in opposition to the Justice Division on Wednesday over the FBI seizing his cellphone knowledge this summer time.
Perry’s attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the GOP lawmaker’s case with out prejudice within the U.S. District Courtroom for the District of Columbia. Axios was the first to report the information.
Perry first mentioned in August that the FBI seized his cellphone whereas he was touring with household in New Jersey, only a day after the bureau searched the Florida dwelling of former President Donald Trump. Brokers bearing a search warrant made a forensic copy of Perry’s machine and returned the cellphone to him.
The lawmaker later sued the Department of Justice, asking the court docket to dam authorities from looking via the info and to return “some other property” the federal government seized. He mentioned he was “outraged” by the seizure, saying “none of that is the federal government’s enterprise.”
“As with President Trump final evening, DOJ selected this pointless and aggressive motion as a substitute of merely contacting my attorneys,” Perry said at the time in a statement. “These sorts of banana republic techniques ought to concern each Citizen.”
It’s unclear what investigation the warrant was associated to, however Justice Division investigators have in latest months homed in on a number of Trump allies who labored to overturn the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election forward of the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol.
Perry, an in depth ally of the previous president, served as a go-between for the White Home and former Justice Division official Jeffrey Clark within the days after Trump’s election loss. The Home choose committee investigating the Jan. 6 rebel additionally named Perry as a key member of efforts to drive DOJ officers to look into Trump’s rampant lies about election fraud.
The Republican was named amongst a number of members of Congress who sought preemptive pardons from Trump surrounding the makes an attempt to overturn the election outcomes.
Perry has denied he sought a pardon. The lawmaker is up for reelection subsequent month.