Former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro was arrested on a federal indictment charging him with two counts of contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Navarro, 72, had refused to appear to testify on March 2 in response to the subpoena and also refused to produce by Feb. 23 documents sought by that same subpoena, according to the indictment in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.
The House of Representatives in April voted to ask the U.S. Justice Department to criminally prosecute Navarro and another Trump aide, Dan Scavino, for failing to comply with their subpoenas.
Navarro, who served as a trade advisor to former President Donald Trump, was arrested and in custody Friday morning, awaiting his first appearance later in the day in Washington court.
If convicted of both contempt counts, Navarro on each count faces a minimum possible sentence of 30 days in jail, and a maximum of one year, along with a fine of as much as $100,000.
The indictment was issued Thursday by a grand jury in Washington, and unsealed Friday following his arrest, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.