Judge gives prosecutors access to GOP lawmaker’s communications in Jan. 6 case

A federal judge has granted the special counsel investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 election access to about 1,700 messages from the seized phone of Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Perry, the chairman of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus who played a role in efforts to overturn the election, had tried to keep the messages from prosecutors. But ordered late on Tuesday eveningJames E. Boasberg, the chief judge of the Federal District Court in Washington, barred federal prosecutors from pulling only 396 messages out of more than 2,000.

Judge Boasberg wrote that these messages fell under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which provides protection for lawmakers’ legislative discussions while also ordering a majority vote.

The messages could provide additional evidence to Jack Smith, the special counsel leading the federal election case against Trump. Judge Boasberg said they were concerned about Mr. Perry’s efforts to obtain information about possible voter fraud; influencing people outside the federal government; discuss the certification of Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s victory. by Vice President Mike Pence; and communicate about the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.

A lawyer for Mr. Perry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

As federal officials investigated efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the FBI seized Mr. Perry’s personal cell phone in the summer of 2022 and made a forensic copy of its contents. The FBI later called back and told Mr. Perry that he was not the target of the investigation, his lawyer said at the time.

“The Department of Justice has informed us that Representative Perry is not a target of its investigation,” the attorney, John Irving, said in a statement. “Representative Perry has directed us to work with the Department of Justice to ensure it gets the information it is entitled to, but also to protect information it is not entitled to.”

Mr. Perry then filed a motion to ban researchers from receiving the messages, arguing that they were protected by the Constitution. He lost that motion, but an appeals court ordered a judge to review the communications document by document.

Mr. Perry was one of at least 11 Republican members of Congress involved in conversations with Trump administration officials in the weeks after the 2020 election, according to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack about reversing the results. That included plans to pressure Mr. Pence to throw out electoral votes from states won by Mr. Biden. Mr. Perry also supported the idea of ​​encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol, the committee said.

He played an active role in the effort to replace Jeffrey A. Rosen, then acting attorney general, with a more accommodating official, Jeffrey Clark.