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Justice Department declines to prosecute former Trump chief of staff and deputy
Justice Department officials said prosecutors would not file criminal contempt of Congress charges against Trump officials Mark Meadows and Dan Scavino.
Politics
WASHINGTON — Justice Department officials said Friday that prosecutors would not file criminal contempt of Congress charges against Mark Meadows, who served as White House chief of staff during former President Donald Trump’s last 10 months in office.
The department also declined to prosecute Dan Scavino, who was deputy chief of staff, the DOJ officials said.
The decisions were a defeat for the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. After both Trump officials refused to honor the panel's subpoenas, the committee found them in contempt of Congress and referred the cases to the U.S. attorney in Washington, D.C., for prosecution.
But even if prosecutors had charged them and obtained convictions, it would not have required them to cooperate with the committee. It would simply have punished them for their refusal.