Because the FBI raid on former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate has received so much media attention, not much has been reported on what happened to Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry the day after the raid.
"FBI agents, when I was travelling with my family, my wife, and our two small children … showed up and demanded my cell phone," he told the Fox News Channel. "They said they were going to image it, they were not going to search it, and they eventually did return it. But what I think this is about is intimidating anyone who refuses to bend the knees to the narrative."
He said the three FBI agents made no attempt to contact his lawyer to make arrangements for them to have his phone.
"My phone contains info about my legislative and political activities and personal/private discussions with my wife, family, constituents, and friends. None of this is the government's business," the five-term congressman said.
Perry, a loyal Trump ally, is among those who believe there was widespread election fraud in 2020, including in his own state. He has been a figure in the congressional investigation of the events of January 6, 2021.
Diane Gramley, president of the American Family Association of Pennsylvania, believes the Biden administration is using the FBI to intimidate President Trump and his supporters, but she does not believe it will play out in their favor.
"The invasion of Mar-a-Lago definitely has fired up not only Pennsylvanians, but Americans across the country because of the unjust way in which the FBI invaded Mar-a-Lago," she tells AFN. "I think targeting Congressman Scott Perry and taking his cell phone should, and I believe it will, definitely energize Pennsylvania voters to get out and vote in November of this year."
Perry says these kinds of "banana republic tactics should concern every citizen," especially considering Congress's recent decision to hire 87,000 new IRS agents "to further persecute law-abiding citizens."
