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Former President Donald Trump‘s advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino were held in contempt of Congress on Wednesday, for failing to comply with the House committee probing the January 6 attack on the US Capitol.
Navarro, a top trade adviser to the Republican former president, and Scavino, who was deputy chief of staff, did not comply with subpoenas to appear before the House Select Committee.
The House voted 220-203 to refer Navarro and Scavino, who were part of Trump’s inner circle, to the Justice Department for possible prosecution.
The vote split along party lines, except for Republican Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, who joined Democrats in voting in favor.
If the DOJ decides to charge the two former advisors, the pair face up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine.
The panel issued a subpoena for Navarro after he admitted in public, including in his book, that he was part of a team of Trump’s inner circle to pressure then Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the 2020 election.
Scavino was present with Trump during a January 5, 2021, meeting where they allegedly discussed how to convince members of Congress not to certify the election for Joe Biden.
He also tweeted out messages of support for the election protests prior to the mob storming the Capitol, as well as sending messages from inside the White House on January 6.
The House previously voted to hold former White House advisor Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attacks at the Capitol.
In January, Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress after the House referred the matter to the U.S. attorney’s office in Washington.
In a pretrial hearing this week, a judge ruled that Bannon cannot argue that he was relying on his lawyer’s advice in defying his congressional subpoena. Bannon is set to go to trial this summer.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows was also referred to face possible criminal charges, but the DOJ has still not decided on whether to charge him as of yet.
