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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Hugo Lowell

Appeals court shields Trump ally Scott Perry’s phone in 2020 election inquiry

House Freedom Caucus chair Scott Perry outside the Capitol in Washington, DC on 12 September 2023.
The House Freedom Caucus chair, Scott Perry, outside the Capitol in Washington DC on 12 September 2023. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

A federal appeals court has ruled that top House Republican Scott Perry’s text messages about efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election were constitutionally protected and off-limits to prosecutors, according to the opinion in the case that was newly unsealed on Wednesday.

The three-judge panel at the US court of appeals for the DC circuit found that Perry’s communications with congressmen and staff were protected under the so-called speech or debate clause, which shields members of Congress from legal proceedings connected to their official duties.

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