No, Rep. Scott Perry, You're Wrong. The Committee Is Legit

Remember yesterday?

That blogpost centered around the request the January 6 Committee made to Rep Scott Perry (R-PA) to come in for a voluntary chat.

And this was Perry's response:

(1/2) I stand with immense respect for our Constitution, the Rule of Law, and the Americans I represent who know that this entity is illegitimate, and not duly constituted under the rules of the US House of Representatives.

— RepScottPerry (@RepScottPerry) December 21, 2021

Um, Scott? The "entity" as you call it is the "Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol" and was established by this legislation.

And it's very legitimate.

How do I know?

Well, it shows up in this legal opinion - unchallenged.

(BTW - This was the dismissal of a lawsuit that the disgraced Donald Trump filed to stop the Select Committee from investigating him.)

From the opinion:

On June 30, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed House Resolution 503, creating the Select Committee. ECF No. 5, Pl. Mot., Ex. 3, H.R. 503, § 3, 117th Cong. (2021). H.R. 503 empowers the Select Committee to (1) “investigate the facts, circumstances, and causes relating to” the January 6 attack; (2) “identify, review, and evaluate the causes of and the lessons learned from” the attack; and (3) “issue a final report to the House containing such findings, conclusions, and recommendations for corrective measures . . . as it may deem necessary.”

And if you were to read the entire opinion, you'd find that describes pretty clearly that the Select Committee has the authority to gather information.

For example the opinion states:

The Select Committee is authorized “to require, by subpoena or otherwise, the attendance and testimony of such witnesses and the production of books, records, correspondence, memoranda, papers, and documents as it considers necessary.”

Uh-oh.

The opinion also quotes Rule XI of the Rules of the House:

Subpoenas for documents or testimony may be issued to any person or entity, whether governmental, public, or private, within the United States, including, but not limited to, the President, and the Vice President, whether current or former, in a personal or official capacity, as well as the White House, the Office of the President, the Executive Office of the President, and any individual currently or formerly employed in the White House, Office of the President, or Executive Office of the President.

That's a double uh-oh for you, my friend.

The Committee is legitimate, Scott. The request for information is legitimate, Scott.

Eventually, you're going to have to talk to them and give them the information they're requesting.

But if there's some sort of obstacle between having you testify (because you're in the House of Representatives) that sort of obstacle would not be in place, say, for a member of the Pennsylvania State Senate, would it?

How long before The Committee asks to speak to Pennsylvania State Senator Doug Mastriano?

Trump specifically mentioned him in that phone call to DOJ when he was looking to get help overturning the election he lost, wasn't he?

What say you, State Senator Mastriano? When do you think they'll knock on your door?