The House voted on Wednesday to hold Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, both onetime aides to former President Donald Trump, in contempt of Congress after they refused to comply with subpoenas from the select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
The vote was 220-203. The referral now heads to the Department of Justice, which will decide whether to charge Navarro and Scavino with misdemeanors. If found guilty, they will face up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Previously, Congress voted to hold Stephen Bannon, Trump's onetime chief strategist, and Mark Meadows, Trump's final White House chief of staff, in contempt, after they refused to comply with subpoenas. Bannon has been indicted.
Navarro served as a trade adviser to Trump and Scavino was White House deputy chief of staff. In January, Navarro explained to MSNBC host Ari Melber that he and Bannon came up with a plan to overturn President Biden's electoral victory, and roped in more than 100 members of Congress to help. He said their scheme was thwarted once the pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol and disrupted the certification of the election results.
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Prior to Wednesday's vote, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said Navarro and Scavino "must be held accountable for their defiance of the law. Even if you do it on your own time, trying to overturn an election is still trying to overturn an election. This kind of cynical behavior as we investigate a violent insurrection is just despicable. It can't stand. Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro must be held accountable for their abuses of the public trust."
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