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Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro indicted for
defying Capitol attack panel
Navarro in custody after indictment on two counts of
contempt of Congress after he defied subpoena issued by January 6 committee
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Hugo Lowell
in Washington
Fri 3 Jun
2022 17.22 EDT
Peter
Navarro, a top former White House adviser to Donald Trump, was taken into
custody after being indicted by a federal grand jury on Friday on two counts of
contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena issued by the House select
committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack.
The
indictment against Navarro marks the first time that the justice department has
pursued charges against a Trump White House official who worked in the
administration on January 6 and participated in efforts to overturn the 2020
election results.
Navarro is
facing one count of contempt of Congress for his refusal to appear at a
deposition and a second count for his refusal to turn over documents as
demanded by the select committee’s subpoena, the justice department announced
in a news release.
The former
Trump White House adviser, who was involved in the former president’s unlawful
scheme to have the then-vice president, Mike Pence, refuse to certify Joe
Biden’s election win on January 6, was taken into custody at the airport – he
had a pre-planned trip – Navarro told a magistrate judge.
Navarro’s
indictment comes just weeks after the full House of Representatives voted to
hold him in criminal contempt of Congress for entirely defying the select
committee’s subpoena, issued in February, demanding documents and testimony in
the January 6 inquiry.
The
indictment is the latest twist in a series of developments surrounding
Navarro’s position in the crosshairs of congressional and justice department
investigators, who last week served him with a grand jury subpoena demanding
his communications with Trump.
In an
attempt to block the justice department from prosecuting the contempt of
Congress referral and to somehow invalidate the grand jury subpoena, Navarro on
Tuesday filed a last-ditch, 88-page lawsuit seeking an injunction from a
federal judge.
It was not
clear whether that grand jury subpoena – which also demanded records requested
in the select committee subpoena – came as part of the contempt of Congress
case, or whether he was being treated as a witness in a separate criminal
investigation into the former president.
But a
potential benefit for the justice department is that through this indictment,
it may be able to obtain those communications with Trump, according to a former
assistant US attorney who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
The status
of the lawsuit is currently unclear and it was not clear whether the filing led
the justice department to request Navarro’s indictment and arrest warrant will
be placed under seal until the warrant was executed on Friday morning in
Washington DC.
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