3-Judge Panel Blocks Jack Smith From Rep. Perry’s Phone Data

A federal appeals court panel has blocked efforts by special counsel Jack Smith to access the seized cell phone data of Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a key figure in Donald Trump’s alleged bid to subvert the 2020 presidential election, Epoch Times reports. [He didn’t subvert anything]

Smith’s team may seek review by the full bench of the appeals court or by the Supreme Court, so Tuesday’s ruling may not be the final word. The problem we have going forward is the radical leftist judges who don’t follow the Constitution and are spread out throughout the court system.

In a sealed ruling, a three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals set aside part of a lower court’s decision that would have allowed Smith’s prosecutors to access much of the contents they sought from Perry’s phone.

The FBI seized the device from Perry in August 2022, under a very broad court-authorized search warrant. It was done in an abusive way for maximum effect.

Prosecutors haven’t accessed documents or communications because representative Perry moved to stop it. Perry cited his legal privileges as a federal lawmaker and the authority of Congress to be free of interference from the executive branch.

After violating executive privilege, due process, lawyer client privilege, the government wants to destroy the speech or debate protections lawmakers hold.

Democrats and Republicans have joined together to watch and intervene in Perry’s case. This protection grants them immunity from criminal proceedings that touched their official work.

Representative Perry said this constitutional provision should be off limits to prosecutors.

The new ruling is a significant milestone for both Perry and the House of Representatives, which raised alarms about prosecutors’ effort to access the phone of a member of Congress.

Though the appeals court’s 29-page decision remains sealed, the three-judge panel indicated in the court’s docket Tuesday that it had partially rejected the ruling of leftist activist in the U.S. District Court, Judge Beryl Howell, who granted prosecutors access to most of the files seized from Perry’s phone, blocking only a few dozen that she deemed beyond the reach of federal investigators.

In the immediate aftermath of the 2020 election, Perry sent letters to numerous state lawmakers detailing the Trump team’s accusations of widespread voter fraud. Perry’s communications with executive branch officials were “proactive, persistent and protracted,” leftist U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wrote when previously allowing investigators to review the material.

Prosecutors sought records of at least 930 conversations with former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark.

Judge Neomi Rao, a Trump appointee, wrote the appeals court’s main opinion, joined by Judge Karen LeCraft Henderson, who was nominated by President George H.W. Bush. Judge Greg Katsas, also a Trump appointee, filed a six-page concurring opinion.

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