Peter Navarro

Navarro, like former Trump adviser Stephen Bannon, was indicted after refusing to comply with a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.

Lawmakers and investigators on the committee have come to view Meadows as a central figure in Trump’s months-long bid to overturn the results of the election and have previously expressed concern that Garland’s delay could hamstring their work. Moss also told Navarro to amend his lawsuit to make clear the basis for any other claims, such as those challenging the legitimacy of the House select committee or the authority of Biden to waive executive privilege invoked by his predecessor. In 2008, for example, the department rebuffed charges against President George W. Bush’s chief of staff, Joshua Bolten, and former White House counsel Harriet Miers, who had resisted subpoenas over the controversial forced resignations of U.S. attorneys during the pair’s tenure. “As demonstrated in this brief, the executive privilege invoked by President Trump is not mine or Joe Biden’s to waive,” Navarro repeated in the suit. Prosecutors alleged that Navarro did not communicate at all with the committee after receiving the subpoena. Navarro, formerly an adviser to the president on various trade and manufacturing policies, has been a private citizen since departing the White House on Jan. 20, 2021. Navarro, 72, is charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to produce documents to the committee, according to a seven-page indictment. Legal analysts said Congress could sue to try to effect that result, hoping a judge would hold Navarro in civil contempt and jail him until he cooperated. Navarro said in his lawsuit against Pelosi and the committee that he was directed to testify before a grand jury June 2 and present “[a]ll documents relating to the subpoena dated February 9, 2022” that he received from the committee, “including but not limited to any communications with [former president] Trump and/or his counsel or representative.” In a letter accompanying the original Navarro subpoena, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the select committee, cited news reports that the former Trump trade adviser “worked with Steve Bannon and others to develop and implement a plan to delay Congress’s certification of, and ultimately change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.” Navarro, who filed the lawsuit on his own without a lawyer, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Both Navarro and Bannon were indicted by a grand jury in Washington — a rare move by the Justice Department to escalate the consequences of a dispute involving Congress by bringing criminal charges.

Peter Navarro, who served as a trade advisor to former President Donald Trump, refused to testify to the House committee investigating the Capitol riot.

Navarro did not self-surrender on the charges, a law-enforcement source told NBC News. "My hands are tied," Navarro wrote the committee on Feb. 27. Navarro, 72, had refused to appear to testify on March 2 in response to the subpoena and also refused to produce by Feb. 23 documents sought by that same subpoena, according to the indictment in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. - Navarro had refused to appear to testify on March 2 in response to the subpoena and also refused to produce by Feb. 23 documents sought by that same subpoena. Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro was arrested Friday on a federal indictment charging him with two counts of contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol. - Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro was indicted by a federal grand jury for two counts of contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.

Navarro said he was arrested at a DC-area airport Friday on his way to Nashville.

"I will push as hard as I can to use the same B.S. the Democrats are using now to try to put me in prison for standing up for principle," Navarro said. He ultimately closed off communication with the committee and referred all questions regarding his cooperation to Trump and his attorneys. "You bet your a** that I will lead the charge," Navarro said. "Hit them with subpoenas," Navarro declared. Navarro revealed Monday that he had been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors who were seeking documents related to his decision. Navarro had claimed that he was unable to cooperate because former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege in the matter. The Justice Department has yet to act on two other Trump allies referred by the House for prosecution: former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and ex-White House aide Dan Scavino. Navarro also asked the committee if the proceedings would be held in public. The first referral from the House, for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, was picked up by DOJ and has led to an indictment. They are obligated to comply with our investigation. Navarro, who has a Ph.D in economics, is not an attorney. At Friday's court appearance, Judge Zia Faruqui expressed concern about allowing Navarro to represent himself.

Trade hawk and former Trump adviser Peter Navarro was indicted for refusing to cooperate with the House investigation into the Capitol riot.

He also stepped outside his area of expertise, fighting with Dr. Anthony Fauci in public and egging on Trump’s promotion of an untested COVID-19 treatment. Investigators sought documents and testimony about Navarro’s role in Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results and stay in power. Speaking to reporters on Friday, Navarro described the subpoena as “unlawful.”

Peter Navarro became the second aide to former President Donald Trump indicted for contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena in the Jan. 6 probe.

The Justice Department is considering criminal charges for them. Navarro said in a later interview that Trump was “on board with the strategy,” according to the committee. The indictment against Navarro was filed Thursday and unsealed Friday. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta will hear the case. Federal courts have so far upheld the committee’s authority to subpoena documents and testimony. The committee said he could refuse to answer questions based on a privilege, but that he must appear. He didn't respond immediately to a request for comment about the criminal charges.

The House had sent DOJ a criminal referral after Navarro snubbed a subpoena from the committee investigating Jan. 6.

Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House adviser, was indicted on a contempt of Congress charge in November after he refused to answer the House Select Committee’s questions. Navarro said executive privilege prevented him from talking to the committee, and that he would only do so if Trump gave him the green light to do so. He later said in the same interview he'd "responded to them and I expect responses back from them." The committee told him he could assert executive privilege on a question-by-question basis during his deposition, and noted there were topics they planned to ask him about that would not raise 'any executive privilege concerns at all," but Navarro still failed to appear, the indictment says. Public disclosure of the indictment, they wrote, "would give the Defendant the opportunity to flee, tamper with witnesses or evidence, or take other steps to interfere with the criminal case." The U.S. Attorney’s Office told NBC News that Navarro “is in custody pending the court appearance” later Friday.

Peter Navarro is the second associate of former President Donald J. Trump to face criminal charges for stonewalling the inquiry into the Capitol riot, ...

Prosecutors were most likely interested in how closely Mr. Navarro was in touch with the former president or his lawyers in order to assess that defense against the contempt of Congress charge. Mr. Navarro has taken an aggressive stance toward the committee, especially with regard to its Democratic members. A trial in his case is tentatively scheduled for July. Prosecutors charged Mr. Navarro, 72, with what amounted to a misdemeanor process crime for having failed to appear for a deposition or provide documents to congressional investigators in response to a subpoena issued by the House committee on Feb. 9. The same vote also recommended a contempt indictment against Mr. Scavino. Mr. Bannon, a former top aide to Mr. Trump, was indicted in November on similar charges. Each referral has been analyzed individually based on the facts and circumstances of the alleged contempt developed through my office’s investigation.” A lawyer for Mr. Scavino declined to comment. The subpoena also mentioned a call Mr. Navarro participated in with Mr. Trump and his lawyers on Jan. 2, 2021, in which they attempted to persuade hundreds of state lawmakers to join the effort. The House subpoena that Mr. Navarro received sought documents and testimony about an effort to overturn the election that he had billed as the “Green Bay Sweep.” The plan called for lawmakers in key swing states to team with Republican members of Congress and Vice President Mike Pence to reject the results that showed Joseph R. Biden Jr. had won the election and give Mr. Trump the victory. A former White House trade adviser who undertook extensive efforts to keep Mr. Trump in office after the 2020 election, Mr. Navarro is the second high-ranking former presidential aide to be charged with contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena from the committee. For his part, Mr. Navarro appeared in court on Friday afternoon, speaking on his own behalf and telling a federal magistrate judge that the congressional subpoena he was served with was “illegal” and “unenforceable.”