A federal appeals court in Washington on Tuesday partially reversed a lower court judge’s decision giving the Justice Department access to the phone seized from Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., in a government search last year.
But the Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia didn’t provide any detail about its reasoning in a case that has largely proceeded out of the public eye. The order only noted that it partially reversed a lower court judge and sent the case back.
The notice on the court docket said only that the district court judge should “apply the correct standard” to Perry’s communications with individuals outside the federal government, members of Congress and of the executive branch regarding alleged election fraud from the time before Congress voted to certify the 2020 election result and its March vote on an elections bill backed by Democrats.
The order from the three-judge panel followed months of legal wrangling after Perry disputed the search of his cell phone by federal agents. The case revolves around the Constitution’s protections for “speech or debate” by members of Congress that are meant to provide lawmakers with immunity from criminal or civil liability for doing their jobs.
John Rowley, Perry’s attorney, told the appellate judges at oral arguments in February that District Judge Beryl Howell overstepped her bounds by giving the DOJ access to Perry’s phone. Rowley said the phone included messages about the joint session to certify Electoral College votes on Jan. 6, 2021, and a Democratic-backed election bill that the government shouldn’t have access to because they go to the core of Perry’s work as a legislator.
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