Pa. Rep. Perry ‘endorsed’ plan to send pro-Trump extremists to the Capitol | Monday Morning Coffee

Good Monday Morning, Fellow Seekers.U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, R-10th District, “endorsed” a plan, floated by Trump White House officials and its Republican loyalists on Capitol Hill, to send thousands of pro-Trump extremists to the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, as former President Donald Trump and his supporters sought to upend the 2020 election results.

Perry, a York County Republican who now heads the House’s ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, was specifically identified as a supporter, the New York Times reported over the weekend, citing newly released testimony obtained by the U.S. House panel investigating the deadly attack.

Perry, who ultimately voted against certifying his home state’s election results and participated in a failed effort to invalidate millions of mail-in ballots cast by voters in his home state, has refused to speak to the House panel, the Capital-Star previously reported. He did not respond to the Times’ request for comment.

The account of the planning call was provided by a senior aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, the Times reported.

“I don’t think there’s a participant on the call that had necessarily discouraged the idea,” the aide, Cassidy Hutchinson, said, according to the Times.

In addition to Perry, Republican U.S. Reps. Jim Jordan, of Ohio; Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko of Arizona; Mo Brooks of Alabama; Matt Gaetz of Florida; Marjorie Taylor Greene and Jody Hice of Georgia; Louie Gohmert of Texas; and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, also were involved in the discussions, Hutchinson said, according to the Times.

“They felt that he had the authority to — pardon me if my phrasing isn’t correct on this, but — send votes back to the states or the electors back to the states,” Hutchinson testified, according to the Times.

The lawmakers “appeared to embrace a plan promoted by the conservative lawyer John Eastman that members of both parties have likened to a blueprint for a coup,” the Times reported.

WASHINGTON, DC – JANUARY 06: A pro-Trump mob breaks into the U.S. Capitol on January 06, 2021 in Washington, DC. Congress held a joint session today to ratify President-elect Joe Biden’s 306-232 Electoral College win over President Donald Trump. A group of Republican senators said they would reject the Electoral College votes of several states unless Congress appointed a commission to audit the election results. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Perry, a veteran, and former member of the state House of Representatives, has spent most of the last two years trying to explain away his involvement in the Trump White House’s failed efforts to overturn the 2020 election results, which were based on evidence-free claims of widespread voter fraud.

Last January, Perry was outed by the Times for working with a Justice Department lawyer in a plan aimed at overturning election results in Georgia, which President Joe Biden narrowly won. In a statement released to PennLive, Perry denied any wrongdoing.

Perry has defended his involvement, telling WGAL-TV in Lancaster last July that “the people who elected me,” expected him “to be a vote and a voice, and I stand for things.

“It’s not about President Trump. It’s not about President Biden. It’s about the process,” he told the station.

Despite helping to spread baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 canvass, Perry has never contested the legitimacy of his own re-election to a fifth term under the same ground rules that gave Biden the White House.

(Image via pxHere.com)

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As Earth Month heads into its final furlong, Cassie Miller takes stock of Pennsylvania’s litter problem — and it’s a doozy. That’s this weeks’ edition of The Numbers Racket.

Cassie Miller also traveled to Somerset County on Earth Day for this heartbreaking — and heartwarming — story about a tree-planting campaign aimed at memorializing the victims of Flight 93.

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Pennsylvania Education Secretary Noe Ortega will leave his job on April 29, I report.

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(Photo via The Philadelphia Tribune)

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Here’s your #Harrisburg Instagram of the Day:

What Goes OnThe House comes in at 12 p.m. today.9:30 a.m., G50 Irvis: House Environmental Resources & Energy Committee10 a.m., 523 Irvis: House Education Committee10 a.m., 515 Irvis: House Professional Licensure Committee10:30 a.m., 205 Ryan: House Children & Youth Committee1 p.m., N. 7th St., Harrisburg: Joint State Government Commission1:30 p.m., Ebensburg, Pa.: Senate Majority Policy Committee

What Goes On (Nakedly Political Edition)10 a.m.: Breakfast for Rep. Lori Mizgorski11 am.: Luncheon for Rep. Keith Gillespie5:30 p..m: Reception for Rep. Joe Ciresi6 p.m.: Event honoring retiring state House lawmakersRide the circuit, and give at the max, and you’re out an eye-watering $13,500 today.

WolfWatchAs of this writing, Gov. Tom Wolf has no public schedule.

You Say It’s Your Birthday DeptBelated best wishes go out to Lisa Scullin Rashid, of the Hershey Trust; and to longtime Friends O’the Column, Lauren Townsend and Fidelia Friedman, all of whom celebrated on Sunday.

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And now you’re up to date.