A federal appeals court has blocked special counsel Jack Smith’s office from gaining access to phone records seized from U.S. Rep. Scott Perry, a Trump ally.
A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a ruling Tuesday that vacates parts of a lower court ruling that gave Smith’s team access to roughly 2,000 records from the Pennsylvania congressman’s phone.
While the appeals court ruling remains sealed, a summary judgement posted in the docket indicates that judges sent the decision back to the lower court “to apply the correct standard” to Perry’s records, according to a report from the Epoch Times.
Federal law enforcement officers seized Rep. Perry’s phone in August 2022 in connection with the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s objections to the 2020 election. The longtime Freedom Caucus member objected to the electoral certification on January 6, 2021 and, like the former president, believes that the 2020 election was not conducted in an above-board manner.
While Tuesday’s decision represents a setback for Jack Smith, the high-profile battle over Perry’s phone records will continue. The lower court judge was instructed to review Perry’s privilege arguments and determine if investigators can examine his communications with “individuals outside