DOJ won’t charge ex-Trump officials Meadows, Scavino for not cooperating with Jan. 6 panel

The Justice Department has declined to charge Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino — two former White House aides of ex-President Donald Trump — for failing to cooperate with the House select committee investigating last year’s Capitol riot, a report said.

The decision was revealed in a Friday letter, which was obtained by The New York Times, from the US Attorney for the District of Columbia Matthew Graves to House General Counsel Douglas.

“Based on the individual facts and circumstances of their alleged contempt, my office will not be initiating prosecutions for criminal contempt as requested in the referral against Messrs. Meadows and Scavino,” Graves reportedly wrote on Friday.

“My office’s review of each of the contempt referrals arising from the Jan. 6 committee’s investigation is complete.”

Graves’ announcement came the same day Trump’s former top trade adviser Peter Navarro was indicted by the FBI on contempt of Congress charges for failing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee.

The House voted to hold Navvaro, Meadows and Scavino in contempt of Congress in April for failing to meet with investigating lawmakers to discuss their campaign to discredit the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.

The House committee assigned to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol riot demanded answers from Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino about their involvement. AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, Fil

Before the vote, Meadows and Scavino spent weeks negotiating with committee lawyers, in contrast to Navvaro, who ignored the panel.

 Meadows also turned over nearly ten thousand pages worth of documents to the group, which is comprised of seven Democrats and two Republicans.

“The result speaks for itself,” Meadows’ lawyer, George Terwilliger III, told the paper. Scavino’s lawyer declined to comment to The Times.

Former President Donald Trump previously blasted the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot for being too partisan. EPA/JIM LO SCALZO/POOL

Navarro, 72, lashed out at the Justice Department and the FBI Friday after being indicted on two counts for failing to comply with the House select committee.

“Who are these people? This is not America,” Navarro said in federal court, before calling the panel a “sham committee” and prosecutors “despicable.”

The Trump loyalist said he would represent himself against the charges, which carry a prison sentence of up to a year and a $100,000 fine.

In a Tuesday lawsuit, he claimed that he was not legally obligated to comply with the House panel because he argued the committee itself was unlawful.

Navarro is the second former White House official to face charges in connection with the deadly riot. His ally Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist, was indicted for blowing off a subpoena in November.

Navarro and Bannon have both claimed the charges were politically motivated, and invoked executive privilege, which investigators denied.

The select panel has interviewed more than 1,000 witnesses about the riot and was slated to begin holding public hearings on its findings next week.