The House January 6 committee voted unanimously Monday night to hold Trump insiders Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress.
Now the vote goes to the full House of Representatives, where it should pass with the Democrats' majority and then be referred to the Department of Justice.
All nine members of the committee voted in the affirmative after they laid out why Navarro, a Trump White House trade adviser, and Scavino, who continues to head social media operations for the ex-president, needed to testify for the investigation into the January 6 Capitol attack.
The committee wants them to testify because they both assisted in former President Donald Trump's attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election, lawmakers said.
'In short, these two men played a key role in the ex-president's efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election,' Chairman Bennie Thompson said at the top of the hour-long session to lay out the case for holding the duo in contempt of Congress.
'In Mr. Scavino's case, he strung us along for months before making it clear that he believes he's above the law,' the chairman continued. 'Mr. Navarro, despite sharing relevant details on TV, in podcasts and in his own book, he also stonewalled us,' Thompson added.
'You're not fooling anybody,' Thompson said. 'You're obligated to comply with our investigation. They have refused to do so. And that's a crime.'
Both Navarro and Scavino were previously subpoenaed by the committee, with Navarro skipping a scheduled virtual deposition on March 2.
'Why is it when we get closer and closer to the former president. His inner circle. Those nearest to the president. Why are those the ones who refuse to tell the American people what they know? What it is they're covering up?' asked Rep. Elaine Luria, a Virginia Democrat, before she voted yes Monday night.
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