Trump accused of participating in "criminal conspiracy" to annul 2020 elections 4:34
(CNN) --
A federal grand jury has indicted former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro with contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate in the House committee's Jan. 6 investigation.
During a court appearance in Washington on Friday, Navarro said he still wants to represent himself without a lawyer and accused prosecutors of using "ruthless" tactics by arresting him at an airport and not allowing him to make a phone call.
Navarro said he was stopped at a Washington-area airport Friday on his way to Nashville.
Navarro faces two contempt charges: one for not presenting the documents required by the commission and another for not appearing to testify before the Chamber's investigators.
The House had voted in April to refer Navarro to the Justice Department for failing to comply with a select committee subpoena in February.
Navarro had claimed he couldn't cooperate because former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege in the matter.
The commission had countered those arguments citing that many of the issues it wanted to discuss with him had already been described in great detail in his book.
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Trump's January 6 Plot Looks Darker and More Dangerous Every Day
Navarro is now the second former Trump adviser to be charged with contempt of Congress for defying a Jan. 6 commission subpoena.
The House's first indictment, for former Trump adviser Steve Bannon, was accepted by the Justice Department and ended in an indictment for which he faces criminal trial this summer.
The Justice Department has yet to act on two other Trump allies referred by the House for prosecution: former White House Secretary General Mark Meadows and former White House adviser Dan Scavino.
The Justice Department has come under pressure from House Democrats and others on the left for not being aggressive enough in its Jan. 6 investigation, particularly regarding the role they played Trump and his inner circle in seeking to nullify the election and in carrying out the massive voter fraud that fueled the violent assault on Capitol Hill.
However, there have been recent indications that the department has stepped up its investigation into a conspiracy to submit fraudulent lists of voters supporting Trump in states won by President Joe Biden.
Multiple Fake Voters Cooperate in Georgia Criminal Investigation into Trump's Efforts to Nullify 2020 Election
At Friday's appearance, Judge Zia Faruqui expressed concern about allowing Navarro to represent himself.
"I think it's important that he has a lawyer," the judge told him.
Navarro said he agreed with the judge appointing a lawyer "for today" and had emailed prosecutors a contact for the lawyer while they worked it out.
Navarro, who has a doctorate in economics, is not a lawyer.
"The appearance must be postponed for several reasons," added Navarro, who asked that his civil lawsuit against the commission of January 6 of the House of Representatives continue before any criminal process.
The court handling the civil case previously denounced Navarro for procedural defects in the way the lawsuit was structured.
Trump reacted approvingly to chants of "hang Mike Pence" by rioters on January 6
Focus on non-cooperation
The new charges against Navarro center on his failure to cooperate with the House investigation.
The subpoena from the District Attorney for the District of Columbia specifically requests "all documents related to the subpoena dated February 9, 2022, which you received from the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6, 2021 Attack on Capitol Hill." of the United States, including, but not limited to, any communication with former President Trump and/or his attorney or representatives."
In the indictment, prosecutors cite that Navarro received repeated rebuffs for his arguments for not complying with the subpoena.
In a Feb. 27 email cited in the indictment, the commission told Navarro it believed there were issues they could discuss "without any of them raising executive privilege concerns at all."
"In any event, you must appear to assert any objection to executive privilege on a question-by-question basis during deposition," the commission wrote.
When the commission referred Navarro for criminal charges earlier this year, it accused him of making no effort to comply with his subpoena request, saying he made it clear he couldn't cooperate because Trump had asserted executive privilege in the matter.
Select committee chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson cited the executive privilege argument during Navarro's contempt hearing.
"They potentially played a role in an attack on American democracy, but they can ignore our investigation because they were working for the government at the time. That's their point," Thompson said then, referring to both Navarro and Scavino.
"They're not fooling anyone. They're obligated to comply with our investigation. They've refused to do that. And that's a crime."
The commission told Navarro that there were several issues they wanted to discuss with him that were not covered by the privilege, but Navarro declined the offer.
Navarro also asked the commission if the procedure would take place in public.
He ultimately closed communication with the commission and referred all questions about his cooperation to Trump and his attorneys.
Navarro revealed Monday that he had been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors seeking documents related to his decision.
Navarro said in an interview with MSNBC late Thursday that he "responded" to the Justice Department, but declined to say that he would be willing to turn over the documents requested by prosecutors.
He threatens to retaliate if the GOP wins.
In the MSNBC interview with Ari Melber, Navarro said he would "lead the effort" to impeach Biden and top Democrats if Republicans win the White House in 2024.
"You can bet what you want that I will lead the effort," Navarro said.
"I'll take Adam Schiff and Jamie Raskin and Nancy Pelosi and Rosa DeLauro, all those clowns and babysitters, I'll take Biden and every single high-up that's in there..."
"And do what?"
Melber intervened.
"Hit them with subpoenas," Navarro stated.
"We're going to start with Biden's impeachment trial over Ukraine, the southern border, all sorts of things he's guilty of, and we're going to subpoena his top brass."
Melber said he wanted to put it on the record that if Navarro were to return to a position of authority in a Republican administration, he would "use the Justice Department to subpoena Democrats" he doesn't like.
“I will push as hard as I can to use the same crap that the Democrats are using right now to try to put me in jail for standing up for principle,” Navarro said.
"If they want to play that game, we'll hit them back. They'll hit us, and we'll hit them back harder. That's not what I want, Ari. Let it be clear. I don't want that."
-- Sonnet Swire, Hannah Rabinowitz and Katelyn Polantz contributed reporting.
trump adviserU.S. Congress