The Facts
The US Justice Dept. announced in a letter on Fri. that it has decided not to prosecute two of Trump's closest White House advisers: former chief of staff Mark Meadows, and social media director Dan Scavino. Both men were accused of contempt for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
The House had initially recommended that the two be charged with contempt of Congress for ignoring subpoenas seeking information on the events of Jan. 6.
The Spin
Democratic narrative
The decision to not pursue charges against Meadows and Scavino is a grave mistake and a setback to upholding democracy. The Trump administration was in on the Jan. 6 attacks and these two willfully ignored subpoenas seeking information crucial to the investigation. They should face repercussions for their blatant contempt of Congress.
Pro-Trump narrative
Meadows and Scavino did nothing wrong, and we haven't heard the last of Peter Navarro either. Navarro already filed a lawsuit to prove that the Committee itself is unlawful and that its partisan subpoenas have no value whatsoever. If that fails, Navarro will fall back on the protections of executive privilege and the unconstitutional overreach of this Congress, which is starkly overstepping its role as a legislative body.
