January 6 Committee releases contempt report for Scavino and Navarro
The House select committee investigating the insurrection at the US Capitol filed contempt reports Sunday night for former Trump White House aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro, claiming it granted Scavino six extensions of his deadline to sit for an interview and hand over documents and noting that several of the issues Navarro said he could not discuss he had previously written about in his book. © Getty Images The filing comes ahead of the committee's planned business meeting on Monday to vote on a criminal referral of both men for failing to comply with their subpoenas.
© Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images;Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty A composite image of former Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro. Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images;Pete Marovich-Pool/Getty - The House of Representatives voted to hold top Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress.
- The vote triggers a criminal referral to the Justice Department, meaning Navarro and Scavino could be prosecuted.
- Wednesday's vote comes after both men failed to cooperate with the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot.
The House of Representatives voted on Wednesday to hold the former top Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress.
House January 6 committee report recommends Trump aides be held in contempt of Congress
The full committee will vote on the recommendation on Monday.The committee released the 34-page report recommending the contempt charges on Sunday night, ahead of their planned meeting Monday, where they will vote on sending it to the full House.
The 220-203 vote, which was largely along party lines, came after both men failed to cooperate with the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
Wednesday's vote triggers a criminal referral to the Justice Department, meaning Navarro and Scavino could be prosecuted on contempt charges. It's the fourth time the House has referred resistant witnesses to the department for prosecution.
The chamber previously recommended criminal contempt charges against former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Bannon was charged with two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress in December, and the department is currently weighing whether to bring charges against Meadows. The January 6 select committee also voted to recommend criminal charges against the former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark, but the matter has not yet come to a full floor vote.
January 6 committee to vote on criminal referrals for two former Trump advisors
The House select committee investigating the insurrection at the US Capitol plans to vote Monday night on criminal referrals for two former Trump advisers who have not cooperated with their investigation. © Getty Images At left, Peter Navarro, and at right, Dan Scavino -- the two men are former advisers to former President Donald Trump and they're facing a criminal contempt referral from the House January 6 committee.
-
2022 is shaping up to be a legal nightmare for Trumpworld. Here's a timeline of upcoming court cases and legal obstacles.
- Donald Trump and his allies are facing a flurry of legal challenges this year.
- Investigations into his company's finances are ongoing, along with others related to January 6.
- Here are the dates to watch out for this year.
Former President Donald Trump has had a number of surprising legal victories ever since he left the White House — though his greatest potential battles are still looming.
In November, Summer Zervos, who had accused Trump of sexual assault following her appearance on "The Apprentice," dropped her lawsuit against him before he was forced to sit for a deposition. At around the same time, a New York state judge dismissed a lawsuit from Michael Cohen seeking to have the Trump Organization reimburse his legal fees for work he did on Trump's behalf.
Jan. 6 committee recommends Navarro, Scavino be held in contempt of Congress
The committee probing the Jan. 6 attack recommended on Monday that the House hold Trump White House officials Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress. Ahead of the unanimous committee vote, the panel released a 34-page report on Sunday laying out congressional investigators' interest in Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, and how both Trump loyalists rebuffed requests for their cooperation, ahead of Monday night's vote on whether to refer the matter to the House.
But greater dangers loom. The Trump Organization is the subject of a sprawling investigation from the Manhattan district attorney's office and the New York attorney general's office into alleged financial misconduct.
In Atlanta, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is weighing charges over his conduct in the 2020 election. Those investigations are proceeding as the Justice Department comes up on the five-year deadline to prosecute Trump over acts of possible obstruction that former Special Counsel Robert Mueller III scrutinized as part of his investigation into Russia's interference in the 2016 election.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration is sending a steady stream of Trump's White House records to the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. And Trump — along with many of his allies — face federal investigations and lawsuits stemming from the January 6 insurrection. Expect the judges in those cases to set court dates later this year.
While Trump mulls whether to run for president again in 2024, 2022 is shaping up to be a year of legal headaches for the former president and his associates. Here's a timeline of the threats Trumpworld faces.
Jan. 6 witnesses held in contempt: Who, why and what's next
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several witnesses sought by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol are being held in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the probe of the deadly 2021 attack, when Donald Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election. All of those facing contempt were in Trump's inner circle and are defying subpoenas or refusing to cooperate, setting up a constitutional showdown on the ability of Congress to conduct oversight.
Read the original article on Business Insider
-
February
February 9 — A Florida collectibles dealer linked to the federal sex-trafficking investigation into GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz pleaded guilty to drug charges and conspiracy to commit fraud. Gaetz is an outspoken Trump ally who has remained close to people in the former president's orbit.
Joe Ellicott, known as "Big Joe," was named in a December 2020 grand jury subpoena that also listed Gaetz and former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, who agreed to cooperate with federal authorities as part of a guilty plea in which he admitted to sex trafficking and other charges. The 2020 subpoena said the grand jury is investigating alleged crimes "involving commercial sex acts with adult and minor women, as well as obstruction of justice," Politico reported.
Like Greenberg, Ellicott has been cooperating with prosecutors in the Gaetz investigation for months. His guilty plea requires him to "cooperate fully with the United States in the investigation and prosecution of other people," according to court documents.
February 15 — A Washington, D.C., court said the D.C. attorney general's lawsuit against Donald Trump's 2017 inaugural committee will go to trial in September.
House votes to refer 2 former Trump advisers to Justice Department for contempt of Congress
The House voted Wednesday to recommend two former advisers to former President Donald Trump be referred to the Department of Justice on criminal contempt of Congress charges. © Getty Images At left, Peter Navarro, and, at right, Dan Scavino: the two former Trump advisers face a vote in the House on Wednesday over contempt of congress referrals to be sent to the Justice Department.
In November, Trump notched a partial win when the judge dismissed part of the suit, but other elements of the case — such as the attorney general's claim that the committee illegally misused funds — will be moving forward. But on February 15, another judge reversed that decision, reinstating the Trump Organization as a defendant.
February 28 — More than a year after a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, the first trial stemming from the January 6 insurrection is set to start in the case of a Texas man accused of attacking police and carrying a firearm.
Guy Reffitt was charged with civil disorder, obstructing Congress' proceedings, and carrying a semiautomatic handgun to the Capitol. In court filings, federal prosecutors provided a glimpse into how the Justice Department will approach not just Reffitt's trial but others connected to the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
Prosecutors are planning to call a Secret Service agent to testify about preparations for the congressional session to certify the Electoral College vote and former Vice President Mike Pence's visit to the Capitol with family members. The Justice Department also plans to call three police officers and an inspector with the Capitol police force, Monique Moore, who will testify about the January 6 attack's effect on the department.
-
March
March 7 — Trump's lawyers pushed for months in federal courts to keep the Biden administration from turning over his White House records to the House committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol. At every turn, the former president lost, with the Supreme Court effectively rejecting his claim of executive privilege.
Jan. 6 witnesses held in contempt: Who, why and what's next
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several witnesses sought by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol are being held in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the probe of the deadly 2021 attack, when Donald Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election. All of those facing contempt were in Trump's inner circle and are defying subpoenas or refusing to cooperate, setting up a constitutional showdown on the ability of Congress to conduct oversight.
Now, with the National Archives and Records Administration already turning over documents, Trump is facing a decision of how — or whether — to proceed with his legal challenge.
An answer could come in early March. Just days after the Supreme Court declined to take up Trump's case, lawyers for the House and Biden administration asked to have until February 4 to make their latest response to the former president's legal arguments. The Justice Department and House later asked for an extension to March 7.
In light of the Supreme Court decision and subsequent product of records to the House committee, the lawyers said they had agreed that the best course was to extend the deadline so that Trump "can determine his next steps."
March 10 — Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump must all sit for depositions for a civil investigation brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James into the Trump Organization's finances. A New York State Supreme Court Judge ordered them to comply with the attorney general's subpoena in February over the Trump family's objections.
-
April
April 4 — The second special grand jury empaneled by the Manhattan district attorney's office in its criminal investigation into the Trump Organization's finances is set to wrap up by this date. Another indictment in the investigation — or decision from prosecutors to not indict — could come shortly afterward.
-
Does Your Home Have Hidden Cash? Calculate Now.
Ad Microsoft
May
May 2 — Jury selection is scheduled to begin in a trial regarding a civil lawsuit brought by a group of protesters against the Trump Organization. The protesters sued in 2015, alleging the company's security guards roughed them up during a demonstration outside Trump Tower. A video of a deposition Trump was forced to take this past fall is expected to be shown at the trial as evidence.
Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino Face Year in Jail if Charged With Contempt
The pair are the latest of Donald Trump's inner circle to face possible prosecution for defying their January 6 panel subpoenas.In a 220-203 vote on Wednesday, the House voted to refer former White House trade adviser Navarro and ex-Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Scavino to the Department of Justice (DoJ) for possible prosecution.
May 2 — A special grand jury for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' investigation into Trump will be impaneled on May 2 and continue for up to 12 months. This announcement on Monday comes after Willis formally requested to have a special grand jury that would give her the subpoena power to obtain documents and compel witnesses to testify.
May 13— A federal judge has ordered the government to provide a status report on the cooperation of Joel Greenberg, a former Gaetz associate who has pleaded guilty to federal sex trafficking charges.
Greenberg could potentially be a key witness in the Justice Department investigation into Gaetz, one of Trump's most loyal supporters. He'd been scheduled to be sentenced in March but his attorney requested a delay while his client continues to answer federal investigators' questions.
-
June
June — Willis told the Associated Press in January that she is expecting to decide whether to charge Trump in Fulton County, Georgia, by the first half of 2022.
June 29 — Litigants will get to see a copy of Trump's "Celebrity Apprentice" tapes. June 29 marks the deadline of discovery in a lawsuit brought by a group of people who say the Trump Organization pushed an alleged pyramid scheme.
While Trump, in "Celebrity Apprentice," vouched for the ACN Videophone, litigants are trying to figure out if other footage shot for the show demonstrated otherwise. ACN lost an attempt to bring the case to arbitration, and a jury trial is expected to be scheduled for late 2022 or 2023.
-
July
July 7 — Prosecutors and Roger Stone, one of Trump's longtime political advisors, have to meet this deadline for a civil case in which the US Attorney's Office in Florida alleged Stone failed to pay $2 million in unpaid taxes, interest, and penalties.
July 12 — The New York State Supreme Court will hold a hearing in the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal case against the Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg, who's become more marginalized within the company following the indictment from last July.
The status conference is expected to update the public on how Trump Organization lawyers are reviewing the 6 million pages of discovery material for the case, in which the Manhattan District Attorney's office alleges the company and executive dodged millions of dollars in taxes. The judge has also signaled he wants to hold a trial before the end of 2022.
July 18 — Steve Bannon, the former White House chief strategist, is expected to go on trial in Washington, D.C. Bannon is facing two criminal charges over defying a congressional subpoena. The Justice Department formally charged him in November 2021 after he refused to comply with a subpoena handed down from the House Select Committee that is investigating the January 6 riot.
-
September
September 7 — Tom Barrack, the chairman of Trump's 2017 inaugural committee, is set to stand trial in September on charges he secretly acted as an agent of the United Arab Emirates.
Barrack was charged in July with using his access to Trump to advance the United Arab Emirates' foreign-policy goals and later misleading federal investigators about his activities in a 2019 interview.
The indictment of the top Trump fundraiser marked an escalation of the Justice Department's crackdown in recent years on covert foreign influence.
Barrack's legal team is headlined by Daniel Petrocelli, a partner at the law firm O'Melveny & Myers who previously represented Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling and, more recently, defended AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner Inc. against a Justice Department antitrust challenge.
September 26 — The Trump Organization and Donald Trump's 2016 inaugural fund are expected to go to trial for a lawsuit brought by Washington, D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine alleging they misused nonprofit funds. A precise trial date has not been set.
-
November
November 7 — Trump's longtime political advisor Roger Stone is scheduled to go to trial in federal court in Florida over allegations that he failed to pay $2 million in taxes, as well as interest and penalties for the unpaid sum.
-
Lawmakers became heated at times as they debated the contempt votes.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy slammed Democrats for punishing dissent in their efforts to compel Scavino and Navarro's cooperation.
"The riot on January 6 was wrong," McCarthy said on the House floor Wednesday. "Any violence on that day should be punished. But make no mistake, the Democrats' response is also wrong. For 15 months, Democrats have used January 6 as a blank check to trample on civil rights and congressional norms."
Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who serves on the January 6 select committee, fired back at McCarthy and said he was instrumental in torpedoing a proposal for an independent 9/11-style commission to investigate the deadly insurrection.
"We were going to have a 9/11-style, independent commission," Raskin said on the floor. "And you know what happened? You know who vetoed it? The fourth branch of government, Donald Trump, who some of their members slavishly report to like sycophants."
"And Donald Trump said he didn't want any investigation into the attack on this body," Raskin said, growing more impassioned as he spoke. "The Congress of the United States ... And you know what the minority leader did? He walked it back. They pulled the plug on the independent commission."
Attorney General Merrick Garland has stayed relatively mum on the department's internal deliberations regarding contempt referrals. Asked Wednesday about the status of the Meadows referral, Garland told reporters, "We will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead."
Democrats have become increasingly critical of Garland's leadership as Meadows' case drags out.
Bannon, meanwhile, is set to go to trial in July. Earlier Wednesday, a federal judge dealt a blow to Bannon when he ruled that the former chief strategist cannot use a key pillar of his defense strategy, known as the advice of counsel defense. In other words, Bannon cannot justify his refusal to cooperate with the January 6 select panel by saying he was following his lawyer's advice when he defied the committee's subpoenas.
The committee is interested in Scavino given his position in Trump's inner circle and the fact that he's one of the few aides who was given access to the former president's Twitter account before it was permanently suspended. The January 6 panel believes Scavino has information about "the communications strategy of the former President and his supporters" in the days leading up to the Capitol riot, and the original subpoena Scavino was served described him as a witness to Trump's activities that day.
Navarro, for his part, has drawn significant scrutiny for writing about and describing to Rolling Stone a detailed plot to overturn the election results. He called the plan the "Green Bay sweep" and said it was designed to get state legislatures to decertify presidential election results so that lawmakers could unilaterally hand the election to Trump.
"... The more likely scenario based on our assessment of the evidence was that states would withdraw any certification," Navarro told Rolling Stone. "And the election would be thrown to the House of Representatives. And even though the House is controlled by Democrats, the way votes would be counted in a presidential election decided by the House, Trump would almost certainly win."
Once a rare step, lawmakers are increasingly voting to hold uncooperative witnesses in contempt of Congress when they defy subpoenas and document requests.
Criminal contempt cases depend entirely on whether the Justice Department decides it has enough evidence to prosecute and secure a conviction, and the civil route can take a notoriously long time to settle.
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives held then-attorney general Eric Holder in contempt of Congress in 2012, after he refused to turn over documents related to a gun-running investigation known as Operation: Fast and Furious. The Justice Department — which Holder spearheaded as attorney general — declined to bring criminal charges against him, forcing Republicans to take the civil route. In 2019, seven years later, a settlement was finally reached.
Read the original article on Business Insider
Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino Face Year in Jail if Charged With Contempt .
The pair are the latest of Donald Trump's inner circle to face possible prosecution for defying their January 6 panel subpoenas.In a 220-203 vote on Wednesday, the House voted to refer former White House trade adviser Navarro and ex-Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Scavino to the Department of Justice (DoJ) for possible prosecution.
The House select committee investigating the insurrection at the US Capitol filed contempt reports Sunday night for former Trump White House aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro, claiming it granted Scavino six extensions of his deadline to sit for an interview and hand over documents and noting that several of the issues Navarro said he could not discuss he had previously written about in his book. © Getty Images The filing comes ahead of the committee's planned business meeting on Monday to vote on a criminal referral of both men for failing to comply with their subpoenas. 
The full committee will vote on the recommendation on Monday.The committee released the 34-page report recommending the contempt charges on Sunday night, ahead of their planned meeting Monday, where they will vote on sending it to the full House. 
The House select committee investigating the insurrection at the US Capitol plans to vote Monday night on criminal referrals for two former Trump advisers who have not cooperated with their investigation. © Getty Images At left, Peter Navarro, and at right, Dan Scavino -- the two men are former advisers to former President Donald Trump and they're facing a criminal contempt referral from the House January 6 committee. 
The committee probing the Jan. 6 attack recommended on Monday that the House hold Trump White House officials Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt of Congress. Ahead of the unanimous committee vote, the panel released a 34-page report on Sunday laying out congressional investigators' interest in Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino, and how both Trump loyalists rebuffed requests for their cooperation, ahead of Monday night's vote on whether to refer the matter to the House. 
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several witnesses sought by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol are being held in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the probe of the deadly 2021 attack, when Donald Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election. All of those facing contempt were in Trump's inner circle and are defying subpoenas or refusing to cooperate, setting up a constitutional showdown on the ability of Congress to conduct oversight. 
The House voted Wednesday to recommend two former advisers to former President Donald Trump be referred to the Department of Justice on criminal contempt of Congress charges. © Getty Images At left, Peter Navarro, and, at right, Dan Scavino: the two former Trump advisers face a vote in the House on Wednesday over contempt of congress referrals to be sent to the Justice Department. 
WASHINGTON (AP) — Several witnesses sought by the Jan. 6 committee investigating the insurrection at the Capitol are being held in contempt of Congress for failing to cooperate with the probe of the deadly 2021 attack, when Donald Trump supporters tried to stop the certification of Joe Biden's election. All of those facing contempt were in Trump's inner circle and are defying subpoenas or refusing to cooperate, setting up a constitutional showdown on the ability of Congress to conduct oversight. 
The pair are the latest of Donald Trump's inner circle to face possible prosecution for defying their January 6 panel subpoenas.In a 220-203 vote on Wednesday, the House voted to refer former White House trade adviser Navarro and ex-Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Scavino to the Department of Justice (DoJ) for possible prosecution. 
January 6 Committee releases contempt report for Scavino and Navarro 
House January 6 committee report recommends Trump aides be held in contempt of 
January 6 committee to vote on criminal referrals for two former Trump... 
Jan. 6 committee recommends Navarro, Scavino be held in contempt of Congress 
Jan. 6 witnesses held in contempt: Who, why and what's next 
House votes to refer 2 former Trump advisers to Justice Department for... 
Jan. 6 witnesses held in contempt: Who, why and what's next 
Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino Face Year in Jail if Charged With Contempt