Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Scott Perry has denied ever apologizing to President Trump for his involvement in attempts to revoke the 2020 election, challenging a complaint by his Republican counterpart Deputy Liz Cheney, during a hearing Thursday night in the House selection. committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
“The idea that I have ever apologized for myself or for other members of Congress is an absolute, shameless, and soulless lie,” Perry wrote on Twitter on Friday.
During an overview of the committee’s investigation, Cheney, the select committee’s vice chairman and one of its two Republicans, said Perry was involved in efforts to get Justice Department attorney Jeff Clark appointed as attorney general. Trump wanted Clark to be responsible for enforcing the nation’s law enforcement so that he would have the power to send a letter to Georgia and other states stating, according to Cheney, that the Justice Department had “identified important concerns that could having affected the result of the elections “.
Other Trump-appointed Justice Department officials, including interim Attorney General Jeff Rosen and Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue, threatened to resign for their actions and clashed with then-President and Clark in the Oval Office, he said. Cheney. Rosen will testify before the committee at his hearing on Wednesday, June 15, CBS News has learned.
After alleging that Perry had defended Clark’s appointment as Attorney General, Cheney said: Several other Republican congressmen have also called for presidential pardons for their role in trying to overturn the 2020 election. “
He did not nominate any additional members of Congress or provide additional evidence to support the claim during his statement on Thursday evening, which provided a sort of executive summary of the case the committee will present over the next five hearings at the June.
Perry is one of five Republican lawmakers the committee has cited to testify in its investigation. None of them appeared in response to the summons. The others are House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Representatives Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama and Andy Biggs of Arizona.
The Pennsylvania congressman initially rejected a December request from the committee to voluntarily testify about his discussions with Justice Department officials. In a May letter responding to the subpoena, his attorney wrote that “there was nothing improper in these discussions and Mr. Perry saw no reason to be questioned by Democratic members who [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi appointed to the Committee “.
Perry, like other Republicans, argues that the select committee is illegitimate because Pelosi refused to allow some of McCarthy’s nominees to serve on the committee, an argument that has been rejected by a Trump-appointed judge in court.
According to an October report from a Senate committee investigating the attacks, Perry introduced Clark to Trump and the three met in the Oval Office on December 23, 2021. The committee also found that Perry called in Donoghue at the urging of Trump on Dec. 27 to argue unfounded. allegations of election fraud in Pennsylvania and referred to Clark during the call.
Rob Legare and Melissa Quinn contributed to this story.
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Rebecca Kaplan covers Congress for CBS News.