By Patricia Zengerle

WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – The Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives will approve the “contempt of Congress” charges against Peter Navarro, and Daniel Scavino on Wednesday. These two ex-aides to President Donald Trump were accused of failing to cooperate in the investigation into Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot.

Navarro (a former trade adviser for Trump) and Scavino (a deputy chief of staff), refused to comply with subpoenas to present before the House Select Committee that was investigating the attack.

The House would approve the case, in which Democrats have a small majority of the seats. It would then refer it to the Department of Justice to decide whether or not to bring criminal charges.

A penalty for disobedience to Congress is a one-year imprisonment plus a $100k fine.

Last year, the House supported contempt of Congress accusations against Steve Bannon. He was a Trump adviser. The case was due to begin in July. A contempt case was also passed by the House for Mark Meadows (a former House member and Trump’s chief staff officer), but Justice has not yet said if charges will be brought.

Since Jan. 6, 2021, thousands of Trump supporters attacked the U.S. seat of government. Vice President Mike Pence was there with legislators to officially certify Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory in the November 2020 elections.

After Trump made false statements at an raucous rally, claiming that his defeat was due to fraud, mobs ravaged the Capitol.

On the morning of the riots, four people were killed and one Capitol Police officer was injured in fighting with the rioters. The deaths of four other officers are not surprising.