Former White House advisor Peter Navarro was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) on Friday.
Reports revealed that the arrest took place while Navarro was on his way to Nashville, Tennessee, for a television appearance.
The FBI reportedly placed him in handcuffs just as he was about to board a plane and was taken to Jail.
President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) revealed in its indictment that Navarro has been facing charges with criminal contempt of Congress.
According to the reports, the charges stemmed from the former White House advisor’s refusal to comply with a subpoena that was issued by the partisan House committee amid the investigation of the so-called Capitol riot that occurred on Jan. 6, 2021.
On Friday afternoon, Navarro made his first court appearance where he accused the DOJ of “colluding” with the White House and Congress. He also alleged the prosecution is acting in “bad faith” and his case “needs to get to the Supreme Court.”
“Who are these people? This is not America. I was a distinguished public servant for four years.” Navarro said.
Furthermore, Navarro will reportedly face 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, for each of the counts in the indictment if convicted.
Navarro’s arrest came one day after his MSNBC appearance where he declared his intention to advocate for the impeachment of the current President, Joe Biden if the Republicans manage to win back Congress later this year in the midterm elections.
Following his arrest, the Democrats were slammed by critics, arguing that Navarro’s arrest is just one more example of the political left using their “power” to target and silence its political opposition.
Former US President Donald Trump also urged associates not to cooperate with the Democratic-led investigation and claimed that the movement is politically motivated.
“Our trade genius, Professor Peter Navarro, was just handcuffed, shackled and put in jail while the lowlifes of ANTIFA and BLM are allowed to rip off the public, roam free on the streets, kill people and destroy our once great cities (all run by Democrats).” The former president said.
