Recommending That the House of Representatives Find Peter K. Navarro and Daniel Scavino, Jr., in Contempt of Congress

Floor Speech

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Ms. LOFGREN. Madam Speaker, no one is above the law.

We have all heard that phrase. It is a bedrock principle, and we know it is what distinguishes democracies like ours from autocracies such as Russia.

Sadly, a few of the former President's closest aides and allies seem to think they are special, that they are above the law, including senior communications official Daniel Scavino, Jr.

Now, who is he? According to many reports, Mr. Scavino worked with the former President to use social media to spread lies regarding nonexistent election fraud and to recruit a violent, angry mob to D.C.

Mr. Scavino also followed violent, extremist social media on behalf of Mr. Trump. We have reason to believe that doing so provided Mr. Scavino with explicit advance warnings of the violence that was to occur on January 6. He may have shared these warnings of violence with Mr. Trump before the 6th, and we need to ask him about that.

He reportedly attended several meetings with Mr. Trump and others regarding reversing the legitimate victory of President Biden and was also with the former President during the Capitol attack when Mr. Trump failed to immediately try to stop it, despite urgent bipartisan calls for him to do so.

Madam Speaker, a Federal court recently concluded that Mr. Trump likely committed a Federal felony and that he and his allies ``launched a campaign to overturn a democratic election'' that ``spurred violent attacks on the seat of our Nation's government, led to the deaths of several law enforcement officers, and deepened public distrust in our political process.''

The court said that his effort was ``a coup in search of a legal theory.'' The court found that if President Trump's ``plan had worked, it would have permanently ended the peaceful transition of power, undermining American democracy and the Constitution.''

Democrats and Republicans have agreed that the very foundation of our constitutional republic was threatened. We must prevent that from ever happening again.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell rightly explained that the public needs to know everything about what caused and occurred on January 6. To inform both the American people and legislative reform proposals, the select committee needs to speak with Mr. Scavino. He has to fulfill his legal and moral obligation to provide testimony and documents. Otherwise, he should face consequences.

We must vote ``yes'' on this resolution to find him in contempt of Congress. In the United States of America, no one, including Mr. Scavino, is above the law.

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