January 6 committee subpoenas one-time Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro
By Zachary Cohen, Annie Grayer and Ryan Nobles, CNN
The House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection issued a subpoena Wednesday to Peter Navarro, former President Donald Trump’s one-time trade adviser who following the US Capitol riot has consistently defended efforts to overturn the election.
Navarro is just the latest former Trump official to be subpoenaed by the committee in its sweeping investigation but, like others, it remains to be seen if the panel will ultimately succeed in compelling his testimony.
In its subpoena letter, the panel said it wants to speak to Navarro because of press reports that suggest Navarro worked with Trump ally and adviser Stephen Bannon, among others, to help develop a plan to delay the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
The panel also cited lines from Navarro’s new book where he calls the plan to delay and change the outcome of the election as “the Green Bay Sweep,” and describes the effort as the “last, best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit.”
In response to the subpoena, Navarro told CNN that the committee must negotiate his potential appearance with Trump’s attorneys, claiming like others who have resisted subpoenas that the former President has asserted privilege.
Navarro has also said in the press that Trump was “on board with the strategy” along with “more than 100” members of Congress, which the panel also cited in its subpoena letter.
“Mr. Navarro appears to have information directly relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation into the causes of the January 6th attack on the Capitol,” Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson, who chairs the panel, said in a statement with the release of the subpoena letter. “He hasn’t been shy about his role in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election and has even discussed the former President’s support for those plans.”
In calling for Navarro’s cooperation, Thompson stated that more than 500 witnesses have already cooperated with the panel’s investigation.
Navarro maintains in his new book that he was among the “last three people on God’s green earth who wanted to see violence erupt” on January 6 — counting himself among the likes of Trump and Bannon.
Bannon has been indicted on criminal contempt of Congress charges after refusing to cooperate with the committee.
Navarro, meanwhile, appeared on Bannon’s podcast this week to criticize former Vice President Mike Pence for saying Trump was wrong to claim Pence had the authority to overturn the 2020 election.
During that appearance, Navarro blasted Pence as “never a pure Trump guy” and “the prisoner of Marc Short,” a longtime Pence confidant and the former vice president’s chief of staff who recently appeared before the House committee.
“Mike, you are dead politically,” said Navarro, who has been a vocal champion of Trump’s election lies.
This story has been updated with additional developments Wednesday.
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CNN’s Paula Reid contributed to this report.
