I sure am missing that sarcasm font about now.
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Twain was probably thinking about something close to Kevin or MTG when he wrote this about members of Congress, but its application to Perry is certainly no stretch.
…the smallest minds and the selfishest souls and the cowardliest hearts that God makes.
– Letter fragment, 1891
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I guarantee you that there are no records of any “legislative deliberations” on Scott Perry’s cell phone.
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Problem is, he’s got the likes of Hakeem Jeffries defending him.
In fact, it was unanimous
.
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There has always been a standard mode for accessing evidence like this.
Step 1 - Obtain a warrant for the device
Step 2 - Execute that warrant
Step 3 - Obtain a warrant to access the device
And no, I do not know why this is how it is. But it IS standard.
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How long before we know he hasn’t a legal leg to stand on?
How long before we know that the Speech and Debate clause is going to take a rapid expansion?
Those are probably two of the most reasonable outcomes from this discussion.
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The word from the front in Ukraine is that a big reason for Russian losses is their inability of their artillery to do indirect fire, a basic technique of warfare at least a century old.
During World War I, covered positions moved farther back and indirect fire evolved to allow any point within range to be attacked, firepower mobility , without moving the firers. If the target cannot be seen from the gun position, there has to be a means of identifying targets and correcting aim according to fall of shot. The position of some targets may be identified by a headquarters from various sources of information (spotters): observers on the ground, in aircraft, or in observation balloons. The development of electrical communication immensely simplified reporting, and enabled many widely dispersed firers to concentrate their fire on one target.
The trajectory of the projectile could not be altered once fired, until the introduction of smart munitions.
Similarly, the right seems to be incapable of either picking up or delivering indirect race-baiting messages. Just straight-up message like “Woke Negroes be Lazy.” This, e.g. was written by a white lady. The odd thing is that the writer thinks that nobody can see that she’s intellectually lazy.
How could DOJ seize Perry’s phone but not have the authorization to look at and copy its contents? What is to stop Perry from erasing the phone’s contents? If the DOJ get approval to access the phone, does Perry have to give them his passwords? What about his passwords to online services that he accessed through the phone?
The fact that he no longer has the phone, it is in custody of the department of justice?
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Many legal privileges such as attorney-client privilege are subject to a crime-fraud exception. Evidence of a crime may have to be shown first. In the case of Randy Cunningham, a congressman who took bribes, the key to his case was his poor financial records, not his phone records. I don’t see Perry motivated by money for his actions, at least not directly. If he’s going to cash out later on his Congress stint, there’s no financial record to discover yet. Instead, he’s more interested in Christian Nationalist themes like replacement theory at least on the surface. Of course, some claim the KKK was really just a money grab, so it might be better to treat Scott as an Avon Lady on Steroids.
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I am NOT a lawyer and have no info on case law, but a plain reading of the text (and historical precedent) seems like it should rise up here.
Emphasis added:
Article I, Section 6, Clause 1:
The Senators and Representatives shall receive a Compensation for their Services, to be ascertained by Law, and paid out of the Treasury of the United States. They shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.
Was Perry arrested in the House of Representatives?? Unless Perry was calling another member of the House to debate/discuss something occurring on the floor, this can’t make sense. Unless he was making his floor speech and using his phone to transmit same, it can’t matter. The text doesn’t say anything about legislative activity, if his House was not actively in session and he was not speechifying or debating in that, what can be the defense?
Oh, right, the “Federalist” courts and “The Supremes” only are originalists when it suits them…
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Perry has not been arrested anywhere.
His phone likely contains, among other things, texts, email, and call history related to legislation and other House activities. Those would qualify for speech or debate clause protection.
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This really does look like the appeals panel from hell. On an issue of consequence. Bad luck of the draw.
Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action. Rao pops up too many times on these panels, and this is the second time she’s been partnered with Henderson.
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We don’t know the outer limits of the speech and debate clause, but Perry’s claim of privilege may be out on the edge. The whole idea of an absolute privilege is to allow free discussion or statements without triggering defamation cases (every prosecutor, for example, has to treat the accused as a criminal, and could be sued if they lost their case, which happens). Already in Proxmire in the early 1970s, it was established that extracurricular statements like his self-published letter on government waste, were not protected. It is interesting that a legislator’s discussion about overthrowing the government and will of the people should be protected by this privilege as the implication is that that is within the proper scope of the legislator’s job. Crazy times.
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Okay, I can see how that might slow him down a bit.
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Bad luck for DoJ on the panel draw. They might as well be at the Fifth Circuit.
Except, of course, petitioning for en banc review of whatever nutclustery they come up with in the D.C. Circuit wouldn’t be an exercise in futility.
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Can’t the DOJ then ask for an en banc hearing (or whatever the precise legal terminology)?
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well, phones can be wiped remotely. I have to assume it is SOP to keep the phone in a faraday cage.
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More delay.
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