Schiff Gives a Problematic Answer on Meadows, Scavino Not Getting Charged by DOJ – Opinion

CBS News’ “Face the Nation” host Margaret Brennan described one segment on the most recent show that aired Sunday as “a preview” of the prime time, January 6 House Select Committee hearings. Those will take place starting this week — and trust me, readers, the media won’t let you forget about them.

Scott Macfarlane, CBS congressional reporter for Congress, said that Congressmen are trying to set up something they consider very important and serious.

The committee has completed more than 1,000 depositions and interviews, including with several members of former President Donald Trump’s inner circle. They have gathered nearly 140,000 documents.

…

Some key figures have defied the committee’s subpoenas, including Meadows and five Republican members of the House, including Leader Kevin McCarthy.

He added that among others they’re seeking to speak in front of the committee is former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, and that “[l]ate Friday, the committee said they’d been notified that the Justice Department will not be prosecuting Meadows or former White House staffer Dan Scavino for contempt of Congress.”

To kick things off, Brennan spoke to Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of seven Democrats on the committee cobbled together by Democrat leadership, whom I don’t have to tell you holds an irrational and seething hatred for former President Donald Trump and anyone connected to him.

The host asked Schiff what he thought about two of Trump’s close advisers, former chief of staff Mark Meadows and Scavino, not being prosecuted. He was charitable, but his answer was problematic.

Give it a try.

Jan. 6, committee member Rep. Adam Schiff said that the DOJ’s refusal to indict two ex-Trump aides Mark Meadows & Dan Scavino was “deeply troubling.”

“It’s a grave disappointment and could impede our work if other witnesses think they can…refuse to show up with impunity.” pic.twitter.com/dHH5UryU0f

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) June 5, 2022

Here’s part of what Schiff said, in the exchange:

…[I]This is a very strange reason why two witnesses should be treated differently to the Justice Department-prosecuting two. Absolute immunity is not available. They have very pertinent testimony regarding the events of January 6, the spreading of the big lie and how witnesses might not show up. And when the statute requires the Justice Department to present those cases to the grand jury, they don’t, is deeply troubling. We hope to get more insight from the Justice Department, but it’s a, I think, a grave disappointment and could impede our work if other witnesses think they can likewise refuse to show up with impunity.

MARGARET BRENNAN : Was it because the men in question were so near to Trump that executive privilege was actually applied here?

ADAM SCHIFF: That shouldn’t be the explanation here because, of course, there are a great many things these witnesses can testify with no even plausible claim of executive privilege. Both were involved in campaigns. Both have copies of documents they can share. All of them are not protected by privilege.

And the idea that you can simply refuse to show up, rather than show up and say, as to this question I’m going to assert a privilege, that just invites others to be in contempt of Congress or be in contempt of judges around the country in other courtrooms. And I think it’s a very dangerous precedent to set.

Two issues are apparent in his argument. First, Meadows and Scavino cooperated but not in the way he wanted. Take a look at what they turned over; it’s no small potatoes.

Fox News

Meadows and Scavino entered into negotiations with the Jan 6 Committee and participated to a lesser extent than the committee requested, despite Meadows turning over over 9,000 documents, whereas Navarro and Bannon rejected the committee’s request outright on the grounds of executive privilege. In a statement, Navarro described the Jan 6th committee as a “kangaroo committee” with “7 partisan Democrats” and “2 RINO Republicans.”

The other problem is that a legacy media outlet like CBS News isn’t going to give Schiff any pushback for his interpretation of what “cooperation” or the truth looks like. Is that surprising?

We reported last week on how, like the others, Navarro was indicted by the Biden Justice Department — and unlike former Attorney General Eric Holder, he was arrested “at an airport in the Washington, D.C., area and later appeared in court, where he faced two contempt counts.”

As my colleague at our sister site PJ Media, Rick Moran wrote in May about this committee’s ongoing witch hunt, at that time against a Republican congressman for meeting with a constituent’s family last January 5, the day before the Capitol riot:

“Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence,” said astronomer Carl Sagan. Although he was talking about aliens visiting Earth, he could have been thinking of Democrats accusing Republicans of complicity with an insurrection.

This is just a rehashed smear the Committee would like to regurgitate in the news before the public hearings commence on June 9.

Indeed. And it’s one they intend to keep beating like a drum, as long as the news cameras keep the spotlight on them. However, they won’t be able to tweet any more mean-spirited remarks.