The court documents that were released Friday show that former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro was indicted on contempt of Congress charges.
Navarro, 72, was indicted by a federal grand jury for contempt after snubbing a subpoena from the House committee investigating Jan. 6 for testimony and documents.
Court documents indicate that the government requested that Navarro's indictment be sealed until his arrest operation is executed. The U.S. Attorney's Office told NBC News that Navarro is in custody pending a court appearance later Friday.
The events leading to the charges in the Indictment have been the subject of public scrutiny and concern, federal prosecutors wrote in the motion to keep the case sealed until Navarro's arrest. The indictment would give the Defendant the opportunity to escape, tamper with witnesses or evidence, or take other steps to interfere with the criminal case, they wrote. Navarro was indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress, one for failing to provide papers, and another for failing to provide testimony.
The grand jury indictment states that Navarro is a private citizen and never appeared before the Select Committee or asked for an extension of time after he was subpoenaed.
NAVARRO had not communicated with the Select Committee until February 9, 2022, the indictment alleges, until Feb. 27, when he claimed his hands are tied because former President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege.
In April, the House voted to send Navarro to the Justice Department for contempt. The committee said that Navarro, a trade adviser during the Trump administration, played a key role in the ex-president's effort to overturn the 2020 election. Navarro said executive privilege prevents him from talking to the committee, and that he would only do so if Trump gave him the green light to do so. The Jan. 6 committee noted that Navarro has publicly boasted about his plans to upend the election results and published a book last year in which he referred to the plan as the Green Bay Sweep. Navarro said that Trump was on board with the strategy. Navarro filed a suit against the House committee earlier this week, arguing that the subpoenas should be dismissed. He said he was subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury and turn over documents related to the Jan. 6 riot, including any communications with former President Trump and his counsel or representative. He said that the subpoena called for him to respond by Thursday.
Navarro was asked Thursday night by MSNBC's Ari Melber if he had complied with that subpoena, and he said he was in negotiations with DOJ and was taking this very seriously. He later said he'd responded to them and I expect responses from them in the same interview. He told Melber he was concerned about going to prison, given that he's 72 and the average life span for an American male is 76 years. He told Melber that he considers executive privilege issues to be extremely important in his case. I am fighting. This is why I am fighting. This is why I'm willing to go to jail for this, Navarro said.