Former White House adviser Peter Navarro was indicted by a federal grand jury and taken into custody for contempt of Congress charges stemming from his shunning of requests from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Navarro, 72, was indicted on two counts of contempt for his failure to appear for a deposition and flouting document requests and was taken into custody, according to NBC News. He was arraigned in court Friday afternoon in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Circuit, the Justice Department announced.
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“This is not the way that America is supposed to function,” Navarro said during his arraignment. “No American should be treated the way these people treated me today.”
The former White House adviser told the judge he was arrested by FBI agents at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport. Navarro was planning to fly to Nashville, he said, according to the outlet. He plans to represent himself in court and blasted prosecutors for engaging in a “preemptive strike” against him over his recent lawsuit against the Jan. 6 committee, contending it amounted to “prosecutorial misconduct.” He levied scathing accusations that law enforcement used leg irons and stuck him in a cell when they arrested him when addressing the press outside the courthouse.
“They intercepted me getting on the plane, and then they put me in handcuffs, they bring me here. They put me in leg irons. They stick me in a cell,” Navarro told reporters Friday evening. “What they did to me today violated the Constitution.”
“They intercepted me gettin’ on the plane and then they put me in handcuffs, they bring me here. They put me in leg irons. They stick me in a cell.”
— Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro on being charged for contempt of Congress for defying a January 6th Committee subpoena. pic.twitter.com/GOee9R3GUB
— The Recount (@therecount) June 3, 2022
The indictment comes on the heels of a lawsuit Navarro filed against the Jan. 6 committee, arguing it is illegitimate due to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) appointing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) as its top Republican. He also revealed in the lawsuit that he is the subject of a separate grand jury subpoena issued against him last week from Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia. Graves’s investigation centers on the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, and his subpoena request appears to resemble the one from the Jan. 6 committee.
In the weeks after the 2020 election, Navarro met with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and others to devise plans to challenge the 2020 election, seeking to delay Congress’s certification of the results to buy time to enact the “Green Bay Sweep,” a strategy about which he crowed extensively in his book and media interviews. Trump and his allies argue the 2020 election was stolen due to widespread fraud and irregularities. However, the courts and elections officials have roundly rejected those claims.
Navarro was subpoenaed by the committee in February, which was eager to learn more about the Green Bay Sweep, but he refused to cooperate, citing executive privilege invoked by former President Donald Trump. His refusal prompted a contempt of Congress vote against him in April.
“My hands are tied in this matter as the Executive Privilege asserted by President Trump is not my privilege to waive. The Committee has a firm legal obligation to negotiate this matter directly with Trump and his attorneys before attempting to coerce and bully me into cooperating with its highly partisan effort. If the president waives privilege, I will appear,” Navarro said in a statement at the time.
Navarro is one of a handful of Trump allies held in contempt of Congress, but he appears to be the second to be indicted over the contempt vote. Bannon, who was indicted last year, was the first former member of Trump’s inner circle to get hit with an indictment.
Irked by his grand jury subpoena, Navarro pledged Thursday to “lead the charge” against Democrats if Republicans reclaim power in Washington following the midterm elections. He mused about impeaching Biden and slapping top Democrats and members of the Jan. 6 committee with subpoenas.
The Jan. 6 committee is poised to enter a new phase of its inquiry as it prepares to host a series of public hearings over the summer intending to reinvigorate public interest in the Capitol riot. On Thursday, the Jan. 6 committee announced it will host its first public hearing of the back half of its inquiry on June 9 at 8 p.m.
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If convicted, Navarro faces between 30 days and one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 per charge.
The Washington Examiner reached out to a representative for Navarro for comment.
