Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress for his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the House panel investigating the Capitol riot.
"Former White House advisor Peter K. Navarro has been indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of contempt of Congress stemming from his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 breach of the United States Capitol," the Justice Department said in a press release.
The two counts include Navarro’s refusal to appear before the committee to testify and refusal to hand over documents related to his alleged role in the riot, the release added.
Navarro revealed on Monday that the US Department of Justice had subpoenaed him to appear before a federal grand jury as part of the House select committe's investigation into the Capitol riot on 6 January 2021. Two days later, the former trade adviser to Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against both the panel probing the 6 January events and the DOJ, claiming that neither have legal right to hold him in contempt over his refusal to cooperate.
Speaking with The Hill, Navarro said that the lawsuit was initially drafted against the select committee, but it was expanded to include the DOJ after he had been served a subpoena on Monday.
“It is 99 percent aimed at the kangaroo committee that [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA)] formed. I drafted my lawsuit prior to any communication from the US attorney. And just before I was going to file it, I got this other subpoena so I just included that in the filing,” he explained.
Navarro has previously slammed the 6 Jan. panel as “terrorists” conducting a “partisan witch hunt.”
Back in April, the House panel investigating the 6 Jan. riot at the US Capitol voted in favour of recommending Navarro be held in contempt after he failed to comply with the committee’s subpoena. The matter then went to the House of Representatives, which voted in favour of advancing the recommendation to the DOJ.
The 72-year-old is the second former Trump aide to be charged with contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the investigation. In November 2021, former Donald Trump adviser and Breitbart executive Steve Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury for contempt of Congress. He was charged with two counts of contempt: one for his refusal to appear for a deposition before the select committee and another for his refusal to produce documents for the committee.
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On 6 January 2021, protesters, mostly supporters of Donald Trump, stormed into the US Capitol, to prevent Congress from certifying the Electoral College votes in favour of Democrat Joe Biden, in a riot that claimed the lives of five people. Former President Donald Trump was accused of inciting "insurrection." He denied any wrongdoing, stressing that he called on people to disperse. Following his unprecedented second impeachment over the accusations, the Senate acquitted Trump after his presidential tenure had ended.