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

Floor Speech

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Mr. KINZINGER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding.

Madam Speaker, for all practical purposes, Dan Scavino's career is Donald Trump. Scavino was 16 when they met, and he is, to this day, a Trump stalwart.

Scavino was central to the Trump administration's social media program. He was, for 2 years, President Trump's Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications. Using social media to monitor trends and shape political views was Dan Scavino's core business.

He did that for Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign, and he kept doing it right on through the ``stop the steal'' and the fraudulent challenge to the 2020 election. He also monitored extremist social media sites for the President.

Dan Scavino was with the President on January 5 and 6. He spoke with Trump by phone several times on January 6 and was with the President as many urged him to help stop the violence at the Capitol. So, Dan Scavino could shed light on what then-President Trump thought would happen on January 6, especially the potential for violence.

Did the President know that the rally could turn violent; that his rhetoric on the Ellipse could send an angry mob to storm the Capitol; that what on the evening of January 5 President Trump called a fired-up crowd might take it literally when, the next morning, he told them to ``fight hard''; that he was pouring fuel on the flames?

Dan Scavino was there, so if he were willing to do his duty as a citizen, he could tell us a lot about that. But instead, he has chosen to stiff-arm the American people.

President Trump acknowledged that Scavino sometimes helped shape his tweets. On December 19, Trump retweeted a video that urged viewers to ``fight for Trump.'' The January 6 attack was then just 2\1/2\ weeks away.

Why did Donald Trump retweet that particular message? Dan Scavino could give us the inside scoop.

While Trump and his stop the steal gaggle were working hard to subvert the Constitution and steal the election for themselves, President Trump retweeted, after QAnon already had, a video called, ``How to Steal an Election.''

What would Dan Scavino say about why Trump retweeted a QAnon-blessed video on how to steal an election? He won't risk telling us.

What did President Trump's extremist followers on ``The Donald'' and other hard-right sites make of Trump urging them to join a wild protest on January 6? Polls show that some took it as marching orders, in fact. Dan Scavino had to know they would.

Dan Scavino knew very well what his boss wanted. He knew that sites like ``The Donald'' attracted violent extremists. Scavino himself sent out a video that a user on that site understood as literal marching orders and literal war drums.

President Trump and Dan Scavino had been in the White House for 4 years by then. They knew the January 6 crowd could turn violent. They knew exactly what they were doing.

We are here today because Dan Scavino, a key witness, is unwilling to speak with us. He failed to produce a single document in response to the subpoena, and he has clearly demonstrated his complete and utter contempt for Congress.

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Mr. KINZINGER. Madam Speaker, I thank the gentleman for yielding time.

Dan Scavino's blatant disregard for our subpoena is his effort to ensure that Congress and the American people never get the firsthand story that he has to tell.

None of us should find that acceptable. It is contempt for the law and contempt for Congress.

Madam Speaker, I urge my colleagues to vote in favor of this resolution.

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