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The House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot is expected to recommend that former Trump aides Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino be cited for contempt of Congress over their refusal to cooperate with the probe. 

Late Sunday, the committee released a report recommending the House of Representatives find the two in criminal contempt. The panel’s nine members are scheduled to vote on transmitting the document to the full House at a 7:30 p.m. meeting Monday.

Navarro and Scavino would be the third and fourth persons referred for a House contempt vote, joining former White House strategist Steve Bannon and former chief of staff Mark Meadows.

The report details several requests by the committee in recent months for Navarro and Scavino to testify before the panel and provide documents related to their actions and conversations leading up to and during the violence of Jan. 6, 2021.

Navarro was subpoenaed last month, while Scavino was subpoenaed in September of last year — though the committee said it had repeatedly extended the deadline for him to come forward and testify.

“Despite all these extensions, to date, Mr. Scavino has not produced a single document, nor has he appeared for testimony,” the report read.


  Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images Trump supporters clash with police and security forces as they storm the US Capitol in Washington, DC. OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images

  White House adviser Peter Navarro leaves the West Wing carrying a posterboard displaying claims of voting irregularity on January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Erin Scott/File Photo White House adviser Peter Navarro leaves the West Wing carrying a posterboard displaying claims of voting irregularity on January 15, 2021. REUTERS/Erin Scott/File Photo

If the panel recommends charges Monday, the House will vote to decide whether to refer the report to the Department of Justice for a final decision on whether to prosecute the two former Trump aides. 

Both Navarro, the former White House trade adviser, and Scavino, President Donald Trump’s former deputy chief of staff for communications, have attempted to evade the committee’s requests by citing executive privilege, pointing to similar claims made by the 45th president.

However, the Biden administration has disavowed Trump’s privilege claim, saying it is “not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified.”


  The committee wants to speak to Peter Navarro over his alleged involvement with Bannon in a plan to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images The committee wants to speak to Peter Navarro over his alleged involvement with Bannon in a plan to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images

  Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson urged Peter Navarro to comply with the order. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson urged Peter Navarro to comply with the order. AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

  Trump ally and former White House adviser Steve Bannon speaks to the media after appearing in federal court. EPA/PETE MAROVICH Trump ally and former White House adviser Steve Bannon speaks to the media after appearing in federal court. EPA/PETE MAROVICH

Scavino’s legal team has claimed that President Biden does not have the “authority to waive executive privilege over the testimony of a former president’s senior aide,” according to the New York Times. 

The committee wants to speak to Navarro over his alleged involvement with Bannon in a plan to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results. Meanwhile, the committee has alleged that Scavino was “tweeting messages from the White House on January 6” and promoted the “Stop the Steal” rally that precipitated the riot.

Navarro is also facing a subpoena from the House select subcommittee investigating the Trump administration’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. In December, he vowed not to comply with the committee, citing executive privilege — telling the panel that the matter is “out of my hands and something that the Sub-Committee should discuss with President Trump’s counsel.” 


  Trump supporters clash with police and security forces during the January 6, 2021, rally. Brent Stirton/Getty Images Trump supporters clash with police and security forces during the January 6, 2021, rally. Brent Stirton/Getty Images


  The panel’s nine members are scheduled to vote on transmitting the document to the full House at a 7:30 p.m. meeting Monday. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images The panel’s nine members are scheduled to vote on transmitting the document to the full House at a 7:30 p.m. meeting Monday. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

  Dan Scavino’s legal team has claimed that President Biden does not have the “authority to waive executive privilege over the testimony of a former president’s senior aide.” Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images Dan Scavino’s legal team has claimed that President Biden does not have the “authority to waive executive privilege over the testimony of a former president’s senior aide.” Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images

At the time, Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) urged him to comply, saying it is “abundantly clear” Navarro possesses “information responsive to the subpoena that is not covered by any colorable claims of executive privilege.”

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