President Donald Trump’s former White House adviser Peter Navarro has been indicted by the Department of Justice on contempt of Congress charges.
Economic adviser Navarro was indicted Friday after defying a subpoena from the House panel investigating Jan. 6.
Navarro is the second former Trump official to get hit with contempt of Congress charges for refusing to comply with the anti-Trump committee.
Former White House adviser Steve Bannon was also indicted in November.
Navarro, 72, was charged with one contempt count for failing to appear for a deposition before the House committee and a second charge for failing to produce documents the committee requested.
If convicted on each count, Navarro faces a minimum possible sentence of 30 days in jail and a maximum of one year.
He is also subject to fines as high as $100,000.
The indictment was issued Thursday by a grand jury in Washington.
It was unsealed Friday.
BREAKING: Peter NAVARRO indicted for contempt of Congress.https://t.co/mIfWKGvP0s pic.twitter.com/SotYyJeGgZ
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) June 3, 2022
From Axios Feb 9, 2022:
The House panel investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot issued a subpoena Wednesday to former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro.
Why it matters: Navarro reportedly worked with former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and others to develop a plan to delay Congress’ certification of the 2020 election, the committee said in a news release.
What they’re saying: Navarro “hasn’t been shy about his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and has even discussed the former President’s support for those plans,” committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said, per the release.
“More than 500 witnesses have provided information in our investigation, and we expect Mr. Navarro to do so as well,” he added.
The other side: In a statement responding to the subpoena, Navarro likened the select committee to a “partisan witch hunt” and claimed that he, Trump and Bannon were the last people who would have wanted to see “chaos and violence on Capitol Hill,” CNN reported.
