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Former Trump administration Energy Secretary Rick Perry was mocked after a text message he denied sending to former President Donald Trump's White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was made public.
A spokesperson for Perry—a former Republican governor of Texas—denied he was the “author of the text,” but the text in question ended with "Rick Perry," indicating he signed it.
The text, dated November 7, 2020, was part of a collection of 2,319 text messages that Meadows received and sent between Election Day 2020 and January 20, 2021, the day of Democratic President Joe Biden's win.
Incredible: Rick Perry denied sending text messages to Mark Meadows with suggestions about overturning the election results, except that he signed one of his text messages "Rick Perry" with his phone numberhttps://www.cnn.com/2022/04/25/politics/mark-meadows-texts-2319/index.html\u00a0\u2026— Molly Hensley-Clancy (@Molly Hensley-Clancy) 1650904176
In it, Perry claims to have evidence to back up Trump's bogus claims of election fraud, in particular data that can “clearly show where the fraud was committed.”
The full text reads as follows:
We have the data driven program that can clearly show where the fraud was committed. This is the silver bullet.”Pam Biondi has seen and agrees!!” Rick Perry
Perry's text signals his embrace of the "Big Lie" that the 2020 general election had been stolen, even as allegations of election fraud have fallen apart in courtrooms and in the wake of numerous audits affirming that the election was both free and fair.
Nor was this the only time Perry messaged Meadows.
According to CNN, Perry contacted Meadows twice in December 2020 to connect him with Jeffrey Clark, a former Department of Justice (DOJ) official who Trump tried unsuccessfully to install as head of the agency when acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen refused to lend credence to Trump's false claims of fraud.
Meadows does not appear to have contacted Clark at all despite Perry's insistence, though CNN notes that Meadows "withheld more than 1,000 messages from the committee on claims of privilege," per the House Select Committee's filing.
Perry has been harshly criticized since his signed text was released and the extent of his involvement in the effort to overturn the election became clearer.
Rick Perry is a devout liar. He claimed he never sent texts to Mark Meadows trying to help overturn the election.\n\nBut then Meadows\u2019 texts were made public and Perry signed text messages FROM HIS PHONE NUMBER in which he did the very thing he swore he DID NOT DO.\n\nWell, RICK?https://twitter.com/mollyhc/status/1518628300192579584\u00a0\u2026— Nick Walden Poublon (@Nick Walden Poublon) 1650973060
I like when my mom signs her texts mom. But it\u2019s definitely a dead giveaway on who sent the text\u2026.https://twitter.com/mollyhc/status/1518628300192579584\u00a0\u2026— Yuh-Line Niou (@Yuh-Line Niou) 1650943505
Pro tip for Rick Perry: if you're going to send insurrectionist text messages from your own phone number and then try to claim that it wasn't really you, don't sign them "Rick Perry"— Palmer Report (@Palmer Report) 1650908692
Rick Perry signing his name to a text suggestions ways to overthrow the U.S. from his own phone number is vintage Rick Perry, and I\u2019d like to remind him that he called me \u201cscandalous trash\u201d which I\u2019m filing under: Things Really Stupid Traitors Say.— Sarah Reese Jones (@Sarah Reese Jones) 1650927323
Rick Perry is living proof that dumb people can be successful in life.https://twitter.com/mollyhc/status/1518628300192579584\u00a0\u2026— Drew Savicki (@Drew Savicki) 1650923806
So in December 2021 I deleted a tweet accusing Rick Perry of calling for overturning the election bc he denied it and it wasn't clear the number was his. \n\nTurns out he was lying. https://twitter.com/mollyhc/status/1518628300192579584\u00a0\u2026\n\nRick Perry was in fact plotting to install a Donald Trump dictatorship.https://twitter.com/Timodc/status/1472010130703065090\u00a0\u2026— Tim Miller (@Tim Miller) 1650907338
Rick Perry said he never texted Meadows\n\n1 tiny prob: he signed his text \u201cRick Perry\u201d along w/ his #\n\nThis is the same genius who couldn\u2019t remember the federal dept he said he wanted to disband\n\nHe went on to lead that same dept\n\nGOP is a lot of things. Smart isn\u2019t 1 of them— Lindy Li (@Lindy Li) 1650942982
Not surprising Rick Perry signed his name at the end of his incriminating tweet, more surprising he spelled his name correctly— Palmer Report (@Palmer Report) 1651001414
In fairness to Rick Perry, he only did this because:\n\n1. he\u2019s corrupt\n2. he\u2019s stupid\n3. I forget the 3rd thinghttps://twitter.com/mollyhc/status/1518628300192579584\u00a0\u2026— John Fugelsang (@John Fugelsang) 1650908002
Messages Meadows sent and received have been front and center since the House Select Committee tasked with investigating the January 6 insurrection began to make them public.
Meadows previously accused the House committee of "leaking" the texts, telling the far-right news outlet Newsmax that they are currently being "weaponized" as part of a smear campaign against him.
The House of Representatives has voted that Meadows be charged with contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate with the investigation, following the House committee's recommendation.