Hoyer: Vote on contempt charges against Trump aides expected next week

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters on Wednesday he expected a House floor vote on contempt of Congress charges against two Trump aides next week, though he did not provide an exact date.

The development comes after the contempt of Congress charges, against Trump’s former trade adviser Peter Navarro and former deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino, were advanced on Monday by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the Capitol.

Both men have been subpoenaed by the committee, but neither have provided documentation to the committee or showed up for depositions. The two have claimed executive privilege concerns as a reason for their absence, though documentation executive privilege concerns were waived by President Biden.

The committee is interested in talking to Navarro for his alleged actions in connection to delaying the 2020 presidential election certification results by Congress with former White House strategist Stephen Bannon, among other efforts to encourage unproven claims of election fraud.

The House panel also wanted to speak with Scavino regarding multiple conversations around challenging the 2020 election results that he reportedly participated in and his proximity to Trump on Jan. 6, 2021. 

“It’s important to note that even if a President has formally invoked executive privilege regarding testimony of a witness — which is not the case here — that witness has the obligation to sit down under oath and assert the privilege question by question. But these witnesses didn’t even bother to show up,” committee Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said.

“Second, even if the ex-President had a legitimate claim to executive privilege, this is a privilege that applies to things that happened in an official capacity. So if Mr. Scavino and Mr. Navarro are claiming that all the information they have is protected by executive privilege, they’re basically saying that everything they did, they did in their official roles. Paid by the taxpayers,” Thompson noted.