Republican congressman says FBI seized his cellphone ellphone day after agents searched Mar-a-Lago, congressman says

“This morning, while traveling with my family, 3 FBI agents visited me and seized my cell phone,” he said in part in a statement.

It was not immediately clear what investigation prompted this seizure, which comes a day after FBI agents searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida.

Perry, a five-term congressman, is a retired Brigadier General with nearly 40 years of military service, including flying combat missions in Iraq.

He is closely linked to former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, who has come under scrutiny by federal investigators for his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election and had his home searched by law enforcement officials earlier this summer.

CNN previously reported that Perry had extensive communications with Trump’s then-chief of staff Mark Meadows about efforts to overturn the election, at times suggesting they speak on the encrypted messaging app called Signal, raising questions as to whether those messages were retained on Perry’s cellphone.

On five occasions, according to text messages reviewed by CNN, Perry texted Meadows to request the conversation move to the encrypted app or to alert Meadows to a message he sent there.

Signal does not collect or save user data, making it more difficult to provide that information to outside entities, including law enforcement and congressional investigators, even under subpoena.

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