The House select committee investigating the January 6 riot at the US Capitol released its report to hold former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro and deputy White House chief of staff Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with the committee.
The committee specifically cited that the two former White House advisers to Donald Trump refused to turn over documents or appear for a deposition. Specifically, the committee noted how Mr Navarro tried to develop a plan to delay the certification of the 2020 election.
The report noted that Mr Navarro said publicly that he would not comply with a congressional subpoena, invoking executive privilege, but also acknowledged that he had published information relevant to the investigation in his book.
“Mr Navarro did not provide any evidence that former-President Trump had ever invoked executive privilege with respect to any documents in Mr. Navarro’s personal possession or any testimony that Mr. Navarro could provide,” the report says. “Select Committee staff responded the same day and explained that there are areas of inquiry that do not implicate ‘any executive privilege concerns at all.’”
The committee later informed Mr Navarro that President Joe Biden had “‘determined that an assertion of executive privilege is not in the national interest, and therefore is not justified, with respect to particular subjects within the purview of the Select Committee.’”
The committee also alleged that Mr Navarro encouraged White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows to contact longtime Trump adviser Roger Stone. Mr Stone invoked his Fifth Amendment rights when he appeared before the committee. The report also alleges that Mr Navarro frequently contacted former White House adviser Steve Bannon to contact his plan called the “Green Bay Sweep” to delay the certification of the 2020 election results.
“On January 6th, the day to implement the ‘Green Bay Sweep,’ Mr Navarro had multiple calls with Mr. Bannon, including during and after the attack on the U.S. Capitol,” the report said.
The report also noted how Chairman Bennie Thompson offered Mr Scavino multiple extensions to turn over relevant White House documents.
“Despite all these extensions, to date, Mr. Scavino has not produced a single document, nor has he appeared for testimony,” the report said.
“Mr Scavino did not only work as a White House official. He separately promoted activities designed to advance Mr. Trump’s success as a presidential candidate,” the report said. “He continued to do so after the 2020 election, promoting activities designed to reverse the outcome of a lost election.”
Similarly, the report said that Mr Scavino allegedly was present for meetings where the then-president plotted to challenge the 2020 presidential election results.
“The Select Committee also has reason to believe that Mr. Scavino may have had advance warning of the possibility of violence on January 6th,” the report said. “Public reporting notes that Mr. Scavino had a history of monitoring websites where, in the weeks leading up to January 6th, users discussed potential acts of violence.”
Specifically, the committee said it sought to question his history of searching websites such as TheDonald.win, where supporters of the former president frequently discussed and planned violence. It noted that the day Mr Trump tweeted “‘Big protest in D.C. on January 6th . . . Be there, will be wild,” users on TheDonald.win began to share techniques on how to assault the Capitol building.
“Whether and when the President and other senior officials knew of impending violence is highly relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation and consideration of legislative recommendations,” the report said.
