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This is the latest controversy for Perry, who just this year has:
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Downplayed the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6th
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Voted against bipartisan investigations into January 6th
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Spread debunked lies about the election
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Compared his political opponents to Nazis
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Pushed a dangerous white nationalist conspiracy theory
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Spread misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines
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Voted against a bill to address anti-Asian hate crimes
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Opposed stimulus checks, small businesses aid, and a middle-class tax cut for families in PA-10
Watch the report here or read the write-up, transcript of the TV report below:
CNN: GOP Representative Played Key Role in Promoting Trump’s big lie.
Sara Murray: A little-known Pennsylvania congressman who publicly parroted claims of election fraud.
PERRY CLIP at Stop the Steal Rally: We want the ballots and the votes that are counted to be legal.
Sara Murray: Was privately helping former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Republican Congressman Scott Perry has acknowledged he connected Trump with Jeffrey Clark, an environmental law chief at the Justice Department. Clark backchanneled with the White House to push baseless fraud conspiracies and even attempted a leadership coup at the Justice Department, according to documents and testimony from former Justice Department officials. Perry had a friendly relationship with Trump.
TRUMP CLIP: A wonderful man who represents this area, Scott Perry.
Sara Murray: It’s unclear how he knew Clark, but the three men were united in the embrace of election conspiracies.
PERRY CLIP: I don’t understand if there’s criminal activity present, fraud, that’s criminal activity, why we don’t look at that?
Sara Murray: In a batch of e-mails released by the House Oversight Committee, Perry passes along documents to the Justice Department that allege there were more votes counted than voters who voted in Pennsylvania, a claim that’s been debunked. That same day, Trump mentioned Perry’s name in a call with Justice Department officials. Later in the call, Trump instructs Justice officials to, ”Just say the election was corrupt and leave the rest me and the Republican congressman.” In Washington, Perry a member of the House Freedom Caucus has courted controversy by objecting to the certification of Pennsylvania’s election results in the hours following the insurrection.
PERRY CLIP: Sadly but resolutely I object to the electoral votes of my beloved Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Sara Murray: And voting against awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to officers who defended the Capitol on January the 6th. Back in Perry’s south central Pennsylvania district many of his allies are unfazed by his role to overturn the election.
PERRY ALLY: One man introduces another man to a third man. Where is that illegal or improper or inappropriate?
Sara Murray: At home, Perry is known for his humble roots, getting a start at a local farm at age 13 and rising to the rank of Brigadier General in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard, and winning five terms in Congress. Here Perry’s election skepticism and unwavering support for Trump may help him win elections.
PERRY ALLY: There’s a lot of suspicions that things in the election didn’t go right because there was some shenanigans going on.
Sara Murray: Not all of Perry’s supporters agree like Gary Eichelberger, who oversaw Cumberland County’s elections.
Election Official, Perry Ally: We have to appeal to a large number of swing voters if we want to win in Pennsylvania and if we want to win any nationwide elections so doubling down on the divisiveness is a potential death sentence for the Republican Party.
Sara Murray: We tried to ask Perry about those concerns but he was nowhere to be found this week when we visited all three of his district offices. Now, we also reached out to Perry’s staff to see if he wanted to comment at all for this piece and we didn’t get any response.
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