The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is hearing arguments on Thursday over whether to allow federal prosecutors to access the cell phone of Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA).
Good luck with that, Scott. This should be an interesting day.
He has nothing to hide!
The case is being heard before three appeals judges appointed by Republican presidents — Neomi Rao and Gregory Katsas are Trump appointees, and Karen Henderson was appointed by George H.W. Bush.
How the fuck did Henderson end up teamed with Rao again? There are 10 active judges on that bench, you couldn’t ask for a more GOP-favorable “random” selection than this.
I am certain it was just lucky… The judiciary would never stoop so low as to stack the deck right!
Shouldn’t he be allowed to hide any evidence that shows what a filthy lying traitor he is?
Okay, I don’t understand. The FBI has Perry’s phone but isn’t permitted to look at it yet? How does that work? And also, Perry’s behavior suggests he’s got something to hide. Probably a lot of somethings, even beyond InsurrectionGate.
Scott Perry tuff guy afraid of nothing? 
… and isn’t the point, based on hard experience, that one fairly and rightly prejudges federal judges in advance based on the origin story of their nomination and approval, fully confident that that story explains whether they will conduct themselves either as genuine judges, devoted to the rule of law or as partisan hacks committed to anti-democratic (small ‘d’) partisan ideological advantage? And some of us are distressed by this reality and some of us applaud it.
A roll of the dice, I’m pretty sure. She is horrendous and it would not surprise me if she sided with Perry. These guys are sure stretching the meaning of the Speech and Debate Clause, too. Perry has a better chance of winning than Pence.
So how have the courts decided about other material seized from other members of congress during criminal investigations when “speech and debate” is brought up? If they do anything but issue an order for some kind of special master that’s going to take some serious sophistry.
Perry is doing what MAGA scum do, use GOP courts to hide the truth, what he can’t stop is the FBI putting legal pressure on Clark. and reading Clark’s phone records of calls from Perry.
He is going to win, Rao is an unconditional Trump judge and Katsas is a Federalist Society member that previously worked at the WH under Trump.
Perry played a key role in the plot. He helped connect Trump with a DOJ official named Jeffrey Bossert Clark, who launched a failed attempt to become attorney general as part of a broader plot to use the DOJ to intervene in the election outcome.
That would be the “weaponization of the Federal Government for political purposes”, would it not?
Judges Rao and Katsas both signaled that they wanted at least some way of delineating where the privilege would end.
So the two Trump lackeys already made their minds, they are just looking for a fig leaf to cover their junk.
You left out Henderson, who followed Rao’s lead in the infamous ruling that congress can’t investigate the president unless they’re already impeaching the president. But, they might not want to get summarily overturned en banc, again.
What if possible communications are not with legislators? Or, am I missing something?
Cellphones are ubiquitous, rich in data and metadata, so naturally they are now a familiar target for seach warrants. The first thing you need to get a warrant is probable cause, but then there is a second barrier. Here’s language from a typical court ruling (note not even checked for grammar):
The Court of Appeals noted that the reviewing judge will necessarily consider three factors: (1) the nature of the crime being investigated; (2) the facts provided in support of the connection between that crime and the cell phone to be search; and (3) the degree to which the deference owed to the affiant adds to the ultimate decision (depending upon the affiant’s demonstrated training and experience).
You can fight to limit the time frame and the types of contacts sought, but if Scott had been criming during the post-election period from November to January, he could have a lot of interesting contacts. He seems to be pushing for deference based on his privilege as a legislator.
He also seems to have had a richer relationship with Clark than most, which is part of the reason for the focus. It seems to put him closer to the heart of the plot to overthrow an election, something unique in over 200 years of US history. I’m waiting for when the Smithsonian calls dibs on that phone.
https://www.axios.com/2022/08/09/rep-scott-perry-outraged-after-fbi-seized-his-phone
Once in a while I muse we should be like Russia whom these guys seemingly love and he should stay away from windows on the 20th floor…then I come to my senses and understand prosecuting and penalizing these people is trying to unravel a Gordian knot…the legal rope a dope goes on forever.
Being an actual elected member of the Legislative Branch gives Perry an unfair advantage.