By Aaron Miller-
Former Donald Trump advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino were held in contempt of Congress on Wednesday for their refusal to comply with subpoenas from the investigation into the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
The U.S House of Representatives voted to hold two former advisers to ex-President Donald Trump in criminal contempt of Congress.
The two men are the latest members of former President Trump’s inner circle to face legal jeopardy as the select committee continues its long probe into the worst attack on the Capitol in more than 200 years, when a mob attacked Congress where congressmen and women had met to officialize the election victory of Joe Biden.
The House voted 220 to 203 on Wednesday evening to send criminal referrals against Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino to the US Justice Department, which will decide whether to prosecute them.
A conviction could carry a fine of up to $100,000 and one year in prison.
Criminal referrals for Mr Navarro and Mr Scavino will be sent to the Justice Department for possible prosecution. The contempt action followed hours of debate in the House of Representatives as Republicans stood by former presdient, Donald Trump, arguing that Democrats were trying to politicize the attack on the Capitol by his supporters.
Peter Navarro has been charged with contempt by the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol . House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy accused the January 6 committee of “criminalizing dissent”, defended Mr Scavino as a “good man” and lobbed harsh criticism at members of the committee.
The panel has deep knowledge about their roles in the effort to return Trump to office in recent weeks, and senior staff decided they could move ahead in the inquiry without hearing from the two aides, say sources close to the inquiry.
The determination by the select committee that Navarro and Scavino’s cooperation was no longer essential came after it discovered it could fill in the gaps from others, the sources said, and led to the decision to break off negotiations for their cooperation.
Contempt: Dan Scavino Image: Chip Somavodella
“Let’s be honest, this is a political show trial,” Mr McCarthy said.
Democrat Jamie Raskin of Maryland, among the nine members of the January 6 panel, said that the purpose of the floor vote was to make clear that “open contempt and mockery for this process, and for the rule of law” will not be allowed by the chamber.
“I mean, it is just amazing that they think they can get away with this,” he told reporters about Mr Scavino and Mr Navarro on Wednesday.
“This vote will reveal to us who is willing to show tolerance for the intolerable,” Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland said on the floor, directing his comments to Republicans across the aisle, after only two Republicans voted in favour of the contempt charges.
Mr Raskin and other Democrats made their case that Mr Scavino and Mr Navarro are among just a handful of individuals who have rebuffed the committee’s requests and subpoenas for information. The panel has interviewed more than 800 witnesses so far.
After Raskin, a member of the select committee, introduced the contempt resolution to the House floor, said the select committee needed the House to advance the measure in order to reaffirm the consequences for defying the January 6 investigation.
Citing a ruling by a federal judge last week that Trump “likely” committed felonies to return himself to the Oval Office for a second term, Raskin said on the House floor that the panel wanted Navarro and Scavino’s cooperation because they engaged in trying to overthrow an election.
But having refused to comply with their subpoenas in any form, Raskin said that “these two witnesses have acted in contempt of Congress and the American people; we must hold them in contempt of Congress and the American people”.
The contempt citations approved by the House now head to the justice department and the US attorney for the District of Columbia, Matthew Graves, who is required by law to weigh a prosecution and present the matter before a federal grand jury.
Mr Raskin and other Democrats made their case that Mr Scavino and Mr Navarro are among just a handful of individuals who have rebuffed the committee’s requests and subpoenas for information.
The committee has accused Mr Scavino helped promote Mr Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and was with him the day of the attack on the Capitol. As a result, he may have “materials relevant to his videotaping and tweeting” messages that day.
A lawyer for Mr Scavino did not return multiple messages from the Associated Press seeking comment.
Mr Navarro, 72, a former White House trade adviser, was subpoenaed in early February over his promotion of false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election that the committee believes contributed to the attack.
Mr Navarro cited executive privilege when refusing to testify, insisting the committee “should negotiate this matter with President Trump”. He added: “If he waived the privilege, I will be happy to comply.”
President Joe Biden’s administration has already waived executive privilege for Mr Navarro, Mr Scavino and former national security adviser Michael Flynn, saying it was not justified or in the national interest for them to withhold their testimony.