Peter Navarro, former President Donald Trump‘s trade advisor, has been indicted for criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Navarro, 72, is charged with one count of contempt for refusing to appear for a deposition and one count for refusing to produce documents, the DOJ said in a press release on Friday.
“As detailed in the indictment, on Feb. 9, 2022, the Select Committee issued a subpoena to Navarro,” the DOJ press release says. “The subpoena required him to appear and produce documents to the Select Committee on Feb. 23, 2022, and to appear for a deposition before the Select Committee on March 2, 2022. According to the indictment, Navarro refused to appear to give testimony as required by subpoena and refused to produce documents in compliance with a subpoena.”
The House Committee said it “had reason to believe that Navarro had information relevant to its investigation,” the DOJ press release said, noting that while Navarro had served as an advisor to Trump “on various trade and manufacturing policies,” he has been a private citizen since departing the White House on Jan. 20, 2021.
“We Look Forward to Discussing Them with You, Too.”
According to the indictment, the House committee noted several instances in which Navarro appeared to publicly acknowledge that he and others in Trump’s inner circle, including former chief strategist Steve Bannon, took specific steps to try to block Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s 2020 electoral win, as required by the Constitution.
It was anger over that certification process that spurred thousands of Trump supporters to storm the Capitol on Jan. 6, lawmakers and staffers inside…
