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January 6 Committee Prepares To Hold In Contempt Former Trump Trade Adviser And Communications Chief

03/24/2022
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Topline

The House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot plans to meet Monday to consider recommending citations for criminal contempt of Congress for two Trump Administration officials—former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro and former Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Daniel Scavino Jr.—in the committee’s latest attempt to compel Trump allies to appear and give evidence.

Key Facts

The committee plans to convene at 7:30 p.m. Monday to consider recommending to the House that it cite Navarro and Scavino and refer them to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia for prosecution, the committee Tweeted Thursday.

Navarro was subpoenaed February 9 after detailing in interviews and in his 2021 memoir In Trump Time: My Journal of America’s Plague Year his attempts to delay certification for and ultimately overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election—or, as Navarro put it, “to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit.”

Navarro attempted to avoid testifying before the committee by claiming executive privilege, an argument that was struck down by President Joe Biden February 28.

Scavino was subpoenaed around September 23, after the committee determined that he had been present January 5, 2021, at a discussion including then President Donald Trump on how to persuade members of Congress not to certify Biden the election winner.

Navarro told the Associated Press that the committee’s plans were “an unprecedented partisan assault on executive privilege,” and claimed that he was unable to appear before the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege.

Scavino did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Key Background

Navarro and Scavino are among numerous Trump Administration officials subpoenaed because of their proximity to the Capitol riot. As well as meeting with Trump for a discussion on overturning the 2020 election, Scavino was tweeting from the White House on January 6, 2021, the committee said. Scavino was subpoenaed alongside former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, former Defense Department official Kashyap Patel and former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. November 12, Bannon was indicted for contempt of Congress after he refused to appear before the committee, with a trial set for July 18. Meadows was also recommended for contempt of Congress charges by the committee. Navarro’s brazen public admissions that he attempted to reverse the 2020 election in favor of Trump also drew the committee’s attention: ”He hasn’t been shy about his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and has even discussed the former President’s support for those plans,” committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) remarked in a statement.

What To Watch For

If convicted of refusing to obey the committee’s subpoenas, Navarro and Scavino could each be sentenced to up to 1 year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.

Further Reading

“January 6 Committee Subpoenas Kimberly Guilfoyle, Says She Helped Incite Capitol Riot” (Forbes)

Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/03/24/january-6-committee-prepares-to-hold-in-contempt-former-trump-trade-adviser-and-communications-chief/