Trump Advisor Navarro Charged With Contempt In Jan. 6 Investigation
A federal grand jury indicted an adviser of former President Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, on Friday with contempt of Congress for his refusal to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee.
He is the second person, including former White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon, to face a contempt of Congress charge. According to CNN, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Navarro on Friday with two counts of contempt of court. He had a scheduled court appearance for 2:30 pm ET in Washington, D.C.
Many former Trump aids and advisors refused to cooperate with the Jan. 6 committee in its investigation.
According to the indictment, Navarro “refused to produce documents and communications, provide a log of any withheld records, certify a diligent search for records, and comply in any way with a subpoena.”
He also “refused to appear to give testimony as required by a subpoena” by appearing “for a deposition at 10:00 a.m. on March 2, 2022.”
At first, Navarro cited executive privilege, as many have, including former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. However, the committee asserted that what they wanted to discuss was already public information.
On Thursday, Navarro gave an interview to MSNBC’s Ari Melber according to NBC.
“This is why I’m fighting, this is why I’m willing to go to jail for this,” Navarro said during the interview.
Previously, he published a book in 2021 titled "In Trump Time: My Journal of America's Plague Year." In the book, the committee says Navarro detailed a lot of what they wanted to ask him about.
Still, he also said in the interview that prison would be especially harmful to him, given his age. Contempt of Congress charges means up to a year in jail and a $100,000 fine.
“What the contempt of charge could do to me, that would be about a fourth of my remaining life,” he said.
The House also referred two others to The Justice Department (DOJ) for contempt charges. This includes Meadows and Trump's former Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
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