(TheConservativeNews.org) – Former Trump adviser Dr. Peter Navarro was arrested and handcuffed at a Washington, D.C. area airport just one day after vowing to help Republicans impeach President Joe Biden.
“They responded with effectively the same kind of thing you’d see in Stalin’s Russia or the Chinese Communist Party,” Navarro told reporters outside the courtroom on Friday. “I note interestingly for the record, the only two people that have been indicted on criminal charges are me and Steve Bannon.”
“There was no reason on God’s good Earth for what they did today to an American citizen. That did not have to happen. It’s terrorism, it’s coercion. There’s no excuse for what they did today. America needs to know this,” he raged.
Navarro was traveling from D.C. to Nashville, Tennessee when the FBI put handcuffs on him and took him into custody, ostensibly attempting to send a message by embarrassing him publicly over defying the January 6 select committee.
“I told them to contact an individual that would discuss this matter. What did they do? They didn’t call me. I spoke to the FBI agent that arrested me. I spoke to him Wednesday night. I said, ‘Walter, whatever you need. You don’t have to come banging on my door like you did last week getting me out of bed. I’m here to cooperate.’ What did they do? I was on my way to Nashville today to do a TV appearance with Mike Huckabee’s show, all right?” Navarro recounted.
“And instead of coming to my door where I live, which by the way is right next to the FBI, instead of calling me and say, ‘Hey, we need you down in court, we’ve got a warrant for you,’ I would have gladly come. What did they do? They intercepted me getting on the plane. Then they put me in handcuffs, they bring me here, they put me in leg irons, stick me in a cell,” he charged.
“Their mission, their clear mission, is to prevent Donald John Trump from running for president in 2024 and being elected president,” he said, asserting that the Jan. 6 committee had weaponized the DOJ. “People like me are in their way and they’re not coming for me, they’re coming for you. All 74 million of you who voted for Donald John Trump.”
Navarro has informed a judge that he does not need an attorney and that he intends to represent himself.
“A federal grand jury has indicted former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro for contempt of Congress after he refused to cooperate in the House January 6 committee’s investigation,” CNN reported.
“During a court appearance in Washington, DC, on Friday, Navarro said that he still wants to represent himself without a lawyer and accused prosecutors of using ‘hardball’ tactics by arresting him at an airport and not allowing him to make a phone call,” the media outlet continued.
The judge in Navarro’s case, Zia Faruqui, expressed concern on Friday that Navarro intends to represent himself in court, “I think it’s important that you have counsel.”
In response, the former Trump adviser said he would accept the judge appointing counsel “for today” and explained that he sent prosecutors an email with an attorney contact listed.
“The arraignment should be postponed for a number of reasons,” Navarro argued and then requested that his civil lawsuit against the House January 6 committee proceed before any criminal proceedings take place.
CNN reports that Navarro is facing two contempt charges. One for his failure to produce documents demanded by the committee and the other for failing to show up for subpoenaed testimony before House investigators.
The arrest coincidentally comes just one day after Navarro vowed to help impeach President Joe Biden if Republicans retake the House in 2022.
MSNBC host John Heilemann, who was filling in for Nicolle Wallace on “Deadline: White House,” aired his disdain for Navarro during his segment on Friday. He called the former adviser’s railing against the federal government “bug-eyed gibberish” and cut away from Navarro’s comments to the press following his arrest.
“I am a devotee of breaking news as much as anyone, but there is only so much bug-eyed gibberish that we can tolerate here. And that is mostly what we’re hearing from Peter Navarro, who has talked in those few minutes we saw on camera about John Hinckley, who claimed Nancy Pelosi was on his side about the 1/6 committee, which he calls a ‘kangaroo committee.’ He said Nancy Pelosi was on his side because she has called it ‘unprecedented,’” Heilemann caustically commented.
“Somebody is going to need to get him a dictionary,” he arrogantly added.
Former Trump campaign adviser Jason Miller also decried the arrest of the lauded economist. He expressed his shock that the Biden administration would take things this far as he spoke with Newsmax host Eric Bolling on Friday.
“The first thing that really struck me was the fact that they went and arrested him, put him in handcuffs. I mean, this is Peter Navarro. He’s an economist, he’s a Ph.D. You see that he’s a very serious, very buttoned-up guy, and you’re going to go throw him in handcuffs?” Miller incredulously asked.
“Eric, how do you see this and not think this is purely just a witch hunt against anyone who had anything to do with President Trump or anyone who might have something to do with President Trump in the future?” Miller went on to inquire.
Miller noted that Navarro is ‘feisty’ and a ‘hard charger,’ but said, “He’s going to need to get a lawyer at a certain point.”
