Photo: Alamy
Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty after being indicted on charges of criminal contempt of Congress for withstanding subpoenas from the Jan. 6 Committee.
According to the Washington Examiner, the former Trump adviser entered the plea during a hearing Friday following his arrest earlier this month. Navarro also reportedly hired counsel to prepare for his trial, despite saying he would represent himself.
Navarro was arrested by FBI officials at an airport in Washington D.C. after the highly partisan Jan. 6 committee moved to issue two charges of criminal contempt of Congress for failing to comply with the committee’s subpoenas for documents and testimony, as previously reported.
“They intercepted me getting on the plane, and then they put me in handcuffs,” Navarro said, recalling his arrest. “They bring me here, they put me in leg irons, they stick me in a cell…What they did to me today violated the Constitution.”
Following his arrest, President Donald Trump took to Truth Social, saying Navarro was “just handcuffed, shackled, and put into prison because he didn’t obey the orders of the Unselect Committee of political THUGS … They’ve gone CRAZY!!!”
According to Fox News, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta decided that Navarro would head to trial in November and could face 30 days to a year of jail time and a fine of up to $100,000 for each charge if convicted.
Navarro is the second former White House staff to be charged concerning the events of Jan. 6. Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon was indicted last year for defying the committee’s subpoena. His trial is set to begin in July.
