Representative Scott Perry, a Republican from Pennsylvania, claimed on Tuesday that the FBI seized his phone while he was traveling.
In a statement to Fox News, Perry revealed three FBI agents contacted him while he was traveling with his family earlier in the day, handed him a warrant and asked the representative to turn over his cellphone.
"This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone [sic]. I’m outraged — though not surprised — that the FBI under the direction of Merrick Garland’s DOJ, would seize the phone of a sitting Member of Congress," Perry said.
Perry added the FBI agents reportedly did not try to call his lawyer, "who would have made arrangements for them to have my phone if that was their wish."
"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," he concluded.
Perry also argued that the Justice Department opted to take the "unnecessary and aggressive action" instead of making an effort to call his attorney.
"These kinds of banana republic tactics should concern every Citizen — especially considering the decision before Congress this week to hire 87,000 new IRS agents to further persecute law-abiding Citizens," he went on to assert.
Perry, who is a five-term congressman and an outspoken Trump supporter, joined the conservative House Freedom Caucus as a founding member and assumed leadership of the group at the start of 2022. Perry also backed Trump's continuous allegations that his defeat to now-President Joe Biden in the 2020 election was brought on by widespread voting fraud.
Perry has drawn the attention of the Democratic-led House select committee looking into the deadly 2021 Capitol attack by Trump supporters who sought to obstruct the congressional certification of Biden's Electoral College victory.
According to the committee's preliminary findings, in the days and weeks before the Capitol siege, Perry spoke with the Trump administration a number of times.