Jan 6 committee to consider criminal contempt referral for Trump allies Scavino and Navarro

If pursued by the Justice Department each count carries up to a year of prison time and $100,000 in fines

Pete Navarro and Dan Scavino Jr (Getty)

The January 6 House select committee will meet to consider criminal contempt referrals for Donald Trump allies Dan Scavino and Pete Navarro.

The committee, which is investigating the attack on the US Capitol by Mr Trump’s supporters to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election win, announced that it will meet on Monday 28 March.

In a notice, it said that the business meeting would be held “to consider a report recommending that the House of Representatives cite Peter Navarro and Daniel Scavino, Jr for criminal contempt of Congress and refer them to the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia for prosecution.”

The move comes as both former Trump officials have failed to comply with subpoenas to appear before the committee.

Mr Scavino, a onetime Trump golf caddy, served as the president’s deputy chief of staff for communications in the White House. He was among the first group of people served by the committee last year.

(Getty)

“He’s the president’s online eyes and ears,” said one former White House staffer, who described Mr Scavino’s work curating Trump’s personal Twitter feed as “like a one-man band.”

The ex-White House and campaign insider previously told The Independent that there was no way that Mr Scavino and the Trump social media operation would not have been aware of plans circulating online to storm the Capitol.

Mr Navarro, a former trade adviser to the Trump administration, was subpoenaed last month after he wrote in his book In Trump Time that he worked with Stephen Bannon and other Trump allies on a plan to delay Congress’s count of the 2020 election results in an attempt to overturn Mr Biden’s win.

He has said that the violence that unfolded at the US Capitol was not part of the plan, which he stated included having vice president Mike Pence reject electors for Mr Biden.

If the House votes to take action against the men it could be pursued by the Justice Department with each count carrying up to a year of prison time and $100,000 in fines.

The Justice Department has already taken action against Mr Bannon, who served as a White House strategist, and he will face trial in June.