(RepublicanInformer.com)- Last week, the Democrat-led House voted to refer former Trump aides Peter Navarro and Daniel Scavino to the Justice Department for contempt of Congress over their refusal to cooperate with the partisan January 6 select committee’s subpoenas.
In a vote of 220 to 203, the House referred Navarro and Scavino to the Department of Justice for possible prosecution, with two Republicans, select committee members Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, voting along with the Democrats.
Both Scavino and Navarro had been subpoenaed by the committee but refused to comply, arguing that their communications are protected by executive privilege. The Biden administration has denied executive privilege for former Trump aides, maintaining that privilege doesn’t apply to a former president’s staffers.
In blasting the vote to refer Navarro and Scavino for contempt, Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy accused the Democrats of using the federal government to prosecute their political opponents.
The contempt of Congress vote does not necessarily mean that prosecution by the Justice Department is a certainty. The Department of Justice will ultimately decide on whether or not to pursue contempt charges in court.
Last year, when Congress voted to refer podcaster Steve Bannon for contempt of Congress, the Department of Justice did file charges against Bannon. His trial is scheduled to begin in July.
However, in mid-December, Congress also voted to refer former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to the DOJ for contempt of Congress. But as yet, the Justice Department has not acted on that referral.
Contempt of Congress is punishable by up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Not everyone in the Trump administration is defying the committee’s subpoenas. The former president’s daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner have both testified before the select committee.
According to the New York Times, during her testimony last week, Ivanka Trump did not claim executive privilege or the Fifth Amendment in response to any questions but answered each one “broadly.”
