Former Trump adviser subpoenaed in DOJ’S Jan. 6 probe
WASHINGTON — Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro revealed in a court filing Tuesday that he has been subpoenaed to appear before a grand jury this week as part of the Justice Department’s sprawling probe into the deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
Navarro, who was a trade adviser to then-president Donald Trump, said he was served by the FBI last week at his Washington house. The subpoena is the first known instance of prosecutors seeking testimony from someone who worked in the Trump White House as they investigate the worst attack on the Capitol in two centuries.
In the filing, Navarro claims the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack is unlawful and therefore a subpoena it issued to him in February is unenforceable under law.
Navarro filed the suit against members of the committee, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-calif., and the U.S. attorney for D.C., Matthew Graves.
In an interview Tuesday, Navarro said the goal of his lawsuit is much broader than the subpoenas themselves, part of an effort to have “the Supreme Court address a number of issues that have come with the weaponization of Congress’ investigatory powers” since Trump came to office.
He said he will respond formally to the federal subpoena on Wednesday.
Though the scope of the department’s investigation remains unclear, the subpoena to Navarro could signal that it is widening its probe to examine the activities and records of people who worked directly for the Republican president. The department previously issued subpoenas to people connected to the attack and the rallies in Washington that preceded the violence, in which a mob loyal to
Trump stormed the Capitol in a bid to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Navarro was one of the White House staffers who promoted Trump’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud. He released a report in December 2020 that he claimed contained evidence of the alleged misconduct.
He has refused to cooperate with the committee, and he and fellow Trump adviser Dan Scavino were found in contempt of Congress in April.