By Aaron Miller-
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.
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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.
He faces two contempt counts: one for his failure to produce documents demanded by the committee and the second for failing to show up for subpoenaed testimony before House investigators.
Prosecutors initially had asked for Navarro’s indictment to be under seal on Friday, citing the possibility that he could flee or tamper with witnesses or evidence, according to court records.
“Public disclosure risks alerting the Defendant of the Indictment of the before the Government’s arrest operation is executed,” the filing said. “This would give the Defendant the opportunity to flee, tamper with witnesses or evidence, or take other steps to interfere with the criminal case.”
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Navarro is next expected to appear before Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui in the US district court for the District of Columbia after being taken into custody, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The committee voted in March to refer Navarro — along with former Trump communications aide Dan Scavino — in contempt for failing to comply with subpoenas. Navarro claimed executive privilege precluded him from testifying, noting his time working in the White House. “They’re not fooling anybody,” Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said. “They are obligated to comply with our investigation. They have refused to do so. And that’s a crime.”
The 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.
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.
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 .
After Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election, Navarro became a regular spokesperson for the former president’s false claims of widespread election fraud and spearheaded efforts to overturn the election.
On the same day the committee held Navarro in contempt, there were complaints that the Justice Department had not acted on its contempt referral of former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. The House referred Meadows for contempt charges in December, but DOJ has not acted on the referral.
The case will be overseen by Judge Amit Mehta, who is also presiding over two other crucial Jan. 6 cases: the seditious conspiracy trial against leaders of the Oath Keepers and a sprawling series of civil lawsuits against Trump filed by members of Congress and Capitol Police officers.
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