The Department of Justice will not charge former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and former Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino with contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 probe in the House, U.S. Attorney Matt Graves reportedly told House general counsel Doug Letter on Friday.
The decision is notably at odds with the House's recommendation on the matter, Politico writes.
In a statement, Jan. 6 select committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Vice Chair Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) described the DOJ's choice as "puzzling." "We hope the department provides greater clarity on this matter," they continued.
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The decision arrived hours after it was revealed that another ex-Trump adviser — Peter Navarro — had been charged with contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a committee subpoena. That said, however, unlike Scavino and Meadows, "Navarro openly defied the committee's request and made no attempt to negotiate terms to comply," CNN writes. Plus, the subpoenas of Meadows and Scavino were complicated.
"I'm grateful [the Justice Department] exercised their discretion not to bring this case," Stan Brand, Scavino's attorney, told CNN.
In one interesting prediction, lawyer Tristan Snell posited that perhaps the DOJ declined to charge Meadows because the former official "has now flipped" — but others pushed back on that same idea.
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