GOP congressman who's been subpoenaed by the January 6 committee is backing Kathy Barnette, a PA Senate candidate who marched with Proud Boys in DC

• Barnette, who marched in DC on January 6, is surging in the polls ahead of Tuesday's primary.
• Perry, the chair of the hardline House Freedom Caucus, donated $1000 to her campaign via his leadership PAC.

Republican Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania is backing Kathy Barnette in the Pennsylvania Republican Senate primary, according to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission.

Barnette's campaign reported on Monday that it received a $1,000 contribution on Saturday from Perry's "First Capital" leadership PAC, a campaign account often used by members of Congress and other politicians to support like-minded causes and candidates.

The contribution comes as Barnette has surged in the polls ahead of Tuesday's primary election and disrupted what had previously been a head-to-head matchup between Dr. Mehmet Oz and former hedge fund manager David McCormick. Perry is breaking with former President Donald Trump, who's endorsed Oz and publicly criticized Barnette as unelectable in the general.

Perry, the chairman of the hardline conservative House Freedom Caucus, was recently subpoenaed by the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot along with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and three other Republican lawmakers. In response, Perry slammed the committee as an "illegitimate body" that's simply interested in "fabricating headlines and distracting Americans from their abysmal record of running America into the ground."

Meanwhile, Barnette reportedly marched alongside Proud Boys in Washington on January 6, 2021, though she has insisted that she didn't engage in violence or enter the Capitol that day.

—Dasha Burns (@DashaBurns) May 16, 2022

Spokespeople for Perry did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Trump has sought to convince Republican voters in the state that Barnette will "never be able to win the General Election."

Barnette, a conservative commentator, has a history of making Islamophobic and homophobic statements. Oz, who would be the first Muslim elected to the Senate, slammed Barnette as "reprehensible" for a 2015 tweet in which she declared that pedophilia is a "cornerstone" of Islam.

"It's reprehensible that she would tweet out something that is defamatory to an entire religion," Oz told The Associated Press. "This state was based on religious freedom. I'm proud as a Pennsylvanian to uphold those founding beliefs that every faith has its merits."

Asked about the tweet by NBC on Friday, Barnette falsely denied that she wrote it.

"I don't think that's me," she said. "I would never have said that."

—Meet the Press (@MeetThePress) May 13, 2022