Former Trump aide Peter Navarro indicted for defying Capitol riot subpoena
- The ex-adviser faces contempt charges for refusing to appear for a deposition or to produce documents requested by a panel probing the January 6 insurrection
- The indictment is another signal that the US Justice Department will move against those who were within the former president’s inner circle
Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro was indicted for defying a subpoena by the congressional committee investigating the Capitol riot, giving the panel fresh ammunition as it probes the post-election acts of Donald Trump and his allies.
Navarro “is charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to produce documents, despite a subpoena from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol”, the Justice Department said in a statement on Friday.
The indictment is another signal that the department will bring charges against those who were within Trump’s inner circle and comes just days before the committee is expected to begin nationally televised hearings.
In a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in federal court in Washington, Navarro asserted that the nine-member House committee is not properly authorised or constituted and therefore that its legislative acts, including the committee subpoena he defied, are invalid.
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He was also served with a federal grand jury subpoena, which he called the “fruit of the poisonous tree”.
Navarro did not immediately return requests for comment on the indictment.