Press Releases

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Scott Perry (PA-4) is outraged at the contents of the recently released House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI) memo. The memo outlines serious concerns about the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) during the Obama Administration.

“Releasing this memo is the first step to rooting out corruption in our bureaucratic agencies once and for all. The American People deserved to know its contents and I’m glad we’re able to get this into the public sphere,” said Perry.

The HPSCI memo shows how the Obama Administration wrongfully used federal surveillance powers to target members of President Trump’s transition team, based on discredited information that was bought and paid for by opposition operatives related to Hillary Clinton’s Presidential Campaign.

Perry went on to highlight concerns about domestic spying measures by federal agencies. “This is exactly why I continue to oppose the domestic surveillance of American citizens, which I’ve done for years. It violates the Constitution, and this issue transcends partisan politics. No government or political party should be able to weaponize elements of our federal national security agencies or criminal justice systems for partisan gain - and unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened,” said Perry.

Perry raised serious concerns about the federal government’s controversial spying powers when the House recently considered the FISA Reauthorization Act. Perry opposed the bill, but supported an alternative measure, the USA Rights Amendment, which would have corrected known abuses in these programs. The Amendment failed to pass the House - but drew a large swath of bipartisan support.

When asked if Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation should continue, Perry said: “We’ve spent over a year investigating and those investigations should be given the opportunity to be completed, but its scope should include actions undertaken by the Clinton Campaign and the Obama Administration. The truth is the truth and it has no agenda,” Perry continued.

Perry joined a group of 65 colleagues to call for a full release of the FISA abuse memo from the House Intelligence Committee in recent weeks. The correspondence can be viewed here.

“We have to make sure something like this never happens again - and it doesn’t matter what party is in power, or who is in charge. This is exactly why we have Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizures and limits on the powers of the Executive Branch of government in the first place,” Perry concluded.