House votes to hold 2 Trump White House officials in contempt

(WASHINGTON) — The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to hold Trump White House officials Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with subpoenas for records and testimony from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack

Both cases will now be sent to the Justice Department, which will decide whether to pursue criminal charges against both men. Each contempt charge carries up to a $100,000 fine and up to one year in jail.

Republican Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger voted to approve the measure along with all Democrats.

Navarro, officially a trade adviser in the Trump White House, wrote a series of reports in the weeks following the 2020 presidential election claiming that the election was stolen from Trump. He was also in contact with Trump ally Steve Bannon about an effort to delay Congress’ certification of the election and to overturn the results, a plan Navarro dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep” in his book, “In Trump Time,” the committee wrote in its report recommending the House contempt vote.

Navarro spoke to Bannon on Jan. 6 and encouraged Trump associates to contact Trump ally Roger Stone to discuss Jan. 6 plans, while encouraging hundreds of state legislators to “take action” ahead of the certification of the election results.

He has deferred to Trump and claimed that the committee needs to negotiate with the former president over executive privilege. The Biden White House has waived executive privilege for Scavino, Navarro, and others, saying the committee’s probe is in the nation’s interest.

Last year the Supreme Court rejected Trump’s bid to block the committee from obtaining his White House records from the National Archives.

Scavino, who first served as a golf caddy for Trump before moving on to join his family business, presidential campaign, and administration, helped manage Trump’s Twitter account and social media presence.

The committee has argued that in addition to his close contact and communication with Trump, Scavino was responsible for several of Trump’s inflammatory Twitter messages ahead of the Capitol riot in Jan. of 2021 — and was following right-wing social media accounts and conversations that suggested the potential for violence in Washington on Jan. 6.

“Mr. Scavino worked directly with President Trump to spread President Trump’s false message that the election was stolen,” Cheney, the vice chair of the committee, said on the House floor.

Republicans who spoke on the House floor prior to the vote attacked the select committee and accused Democrats of trying to target Trump to damage his political standing, and distract from record-high inflation and the increasing number of migrants crossing the US-Mexico border.

“The American people can see through this charade and wants this witch hunt to end,” Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Tx., said on the House floor.

Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., and other members of the committee said Wednesday that close to 800 witnesses had appeared before the committee — including Trump’s daughter, Ivanka, and son-in-law Jared Kushner — and that investigators have obtained roughly 90,000 pages of records.

“Every citizen has a duty to comply with a subpoena,” Cheney said.

Already the House has voted to refer chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump ally Steve Bannon to the Justice Department for defying the committee’s subpoenas.

The Justice Department indicted Bannon, who has pleaded not guilty. A trial is expected to begin this summer.

The department has not taken action on the Meadows referral, frustrating some Democrats in Congress and on the committee.

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