Former top Trump White House aide Peter Navarro is reportedly outraged after being arrested at the airport Friday morning, instead of at his home, telling a federal judge he had been a “distinguished public servant,” apparently in an effort to allege prosecutorial misconduct.
Navarro, who has repeatedly promoted Donald Trump’s “Big Lie” that the election was stolen, and is the architect of the “Green Bay Sweep,” a plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election, was indicted by a federal grand jury on contempt of Congress charges.
But as CNN’s Paul Reid notes, not only has Navarro been indicted, he has been arrested and remains in custody.
“This is unusual for a contempt case,” Reid says.
Civil liberties and national security journalist Marcy Wheeler adds Navarro complained to the judge he had been handcuffed and put in a jail cell:
“Navarro has been representing himself,” Reid added, and “has been publicly complaining about FBI’s ‘loud’ service of [a] subpoena at his home last week.”
“Prosecutors initially asked for Navarro indictment to be under seal citing the possibility he could flee or tamper with witnesses or evidence,” Reid says.
While last week Navarro was angered the FBI served him a subpoena at his home, on Friday he was angered he was arrested at the airport, and reportedly specifically complained to the judge he was “arrested at the door of an airplane.”
“Navarro is on a lengthy rant about his treatment by the FBI,” National Law Journal’s Andrew Goudsward reports.
“I was a distinguished public servant for four years,” he says. “No one ever complained about my ethics.”
Goudsward also says:
Attorney Teri Kanefield confirms Navarro says he was handcuffed:
A New York Times reporter quotes Navarro: