Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

I’ve spoken to my cat about this, but it doesn’t seem to do any good.

You are either for trump or for democracy. Pick one.

These days, even the boring Republicans are nuts.

Trump should be leading, not lying.

Giving in to doom is how authoritarians win.

Some judge needs to shut this circus down soon.

“Loving your country does not mean lying about its history.”

I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.

One of our two political parties is a cult whose leader admires Vladimir Putin.

Live so that if you miss a day of work people aren’t hoping you’re dead.

Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.

You come for women, you’re gonna get your ass kicked.

There are more Russians standing up to Putin than Republicans.

But frankly mr. cole, I’ll be happier when you get back to telling us to go fuck ourselves.

Fight them, without becoming them!

If ‘weird’ was the finish line, they ran through the tape and kept running.

“In the future, this lab will be a museum. do not touch it.”

They traffic in fear. it is their only currency. if we are fearful, they are winning.

Come on, man.

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

Fundamental belief of white supremacy: white people are presumed innocent, minorities are presumed guilty.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

The Supreme Court cannot be allowed to become the ultimate, unaccountable arbiter of everything.

You are here: Home / Domestic Terrorism / Friday Evening Open Thread: Another Domestic Terrorist Arrested

Friday Evening Open Thread: Another Domestic Terrorist Arrested

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Taken from a long, info-rich thread.

From the Washington Post, “Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro charged with contempt of Congress”:

Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro has been indicted on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, the Justice Department announced Friday ahead of the first televised public hearings of the panel next week.

Navarro, who was a trade adviser to President Donald Trump, revealed he also received a grand jury subpoena as part of a related Justice Department probe in a lawsuit he filed Tuesday against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the bipartisan House committee.

Navarro, 72, is charged with one contempt count involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to produce documents to the committee, according to a seven-page indictment returned Thursday and unsealed Friday…

At an initial appearance Friday afternoon in federal court in Washington, Navarro accused prosecutors and the FBI of misconduct, suggesting that the timing of his lawsuit and the charges against him were part of a race to the courthouse. Navarro did not enter a plea, and said he would seek to postpone his June 17 arraignment and criminal proceedings until his civil suit is resolved, potentially running out the clock on efforts by the committee this year.

Navarro called the indictment a “preemptive strike” by prosecutors to sidestep his challenge to the legitimacy of the committee and invocation of executive privilege, although he could also move to dismiss charges on those grounds.

He said that while he spoke with an FBI agent and wrote a letter to a prosecutor as recently as Wednesday, he was given no notice that he would be arrested until he was pulled off an airplane Friday morning by federal agents at an airport near Washington, where he was departing for an evening television appearance in Nashville…


… As if I were a common criminal! and not an extremely important, due-all-possible-deference one!

… Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui released Navarro on personal recognizance on standard conditions that he notify the court before travel, adding, “If the government has acted improperly,” the judge assigned to the criminal case “will hold their feet to the fire and make sure there are consequences.”…

The House investigative panel on Feb. 9 subpoenaed Navarro, who has written and discussed the effort to develop a strategy to delay or overturn certification of the 2020 election. In a letter accompanying the subpoena, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.), chairman of the select committee, cited news reports that the former Trump trade and manufacturing policy adviser “worked with Steve Bannon and others to develop and implement a plan to delay Congress’s certification of, and ultimately change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.”

The letter cited a recent book by Navarro, in which he detailed a plan he called “The Green Bay Sweep,” which he described as the “last best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit.” The subpoena also described a report by Navarro released online that repeated “many claims of purported fraud in the election that have been discredited.”

With the public hearings of the panel starting June 9, the indictment might not produce tangible results in time for the final select committee report due before the November midterms. A criminal conviction for contempt of Congress can result in a fine and up to a year of imprisonment, but it does not compel an individual to talk. Legal analysts said Congress could sue to try to effect that result, hoping a judge would hold Navarro in civil contempt and jail him until he cooperated…

Navarro, who filed the lawsuit on his own without a lawyer, agreed to be represented by an assistant federal defender for his initial appearance Friday but said he would need more time to weigh how he wanted to be represented for the remainder of his case.

Navarro said he served honorably as a senior government official for four years, saving “hundreds of thousands of people’s lives” and jobs, and was being treated punitively by “a partisan Congress, a partisan White House, and a Justice Department that does not read its own” prior legal opinions regarding executive privilege and testimonial immunity.

Previously:

Reader Interactions

56Comments

  1. 1.

    Boris Rasputin (the evil twin)

    Let the march to justice begin, at last.

    Also, Slava Ukkriane!

  2. 2.

    J R in WV

    Wish so hard we got to see him being taken out of the police/FBI car in handcuffs at the court house/jail. Perp walk for all these guys.

    He really thought he would be allowed to get on a jet plane to fly away after being contemptous of all the authorities? Nope!

    Sweet!!

     

    ETA: FIRST!!!! my first FIRST ever!

  3. 3.

    Parfigliano

    My my wasnt warned of his impending arrest. Hand cuffed after arrest. Talk about snowflakes.

  5. 5.

    bbleh

    This is even more evidence that Meadows is cooperating in my eyes.

    Pretty much all the evidence, direct and indirect, indicates that TFG’s WH was a snake pit, which certainly is consistent with his “management” style. One wonders whether we are seeing some fruits of that … er … strategy.

  6. 6.

    bbleh

    @Parfigliano: Funny how privileged wypipo suddenly become all conscious of police misconduct and rights of the accused when they’ve been arrested.  Purely coincidence I’m sure …

  7. 7.

    SamIAm

    MSNBC Primetime showed a segment on Navarro’s origins. He was a Democratic politician from San Diego that spoke at Bill Clinton’s 1996 reelection rally. And was endorsed by Hillary when he was running.

    My god how he broke bad. Was he always this arrogant and delusional or did he snap sometime?

  8. 8.

    Almost Retired

    Navarro was plucked from obscurity (or at least a mediocre academic career and a series of failed runs for office in San Diego) by the Clintons.  I don’t know if he was stealth crazy at the time, or the Clintons were susceptible to lapses in judging character, or he went off the rails in his dotage.  Or all of that.  If nothing else he’s boosted Ari Melber’s profile, which is a good thing.

    ETA  I see SamIAm and I were thinking the same thing.

     

  10. 10.

    Almost Retired

    @Baud: not me.  I still wear my pants half hanging off my ass and blast Pearl Jam on my boom box.

  12. 12.

    Spanky

    OT, but barely: McCormick concedes, giving Dr. Oz the GOP candidacy for the PA senate seat.

    Fetterman will eat him alive. Literally

     

    ETA: Well, shit. Three hours too late.

  13. 13.

    Geminid

    @SamIAm: Navarro’s politics may have changed, but from what a California jackal who had dealings with the man said on an earlier thread, Navarro is a hot headed, abusive bully. He was probably that way back in the 90’s, before he decided that the Republican party was a better fit.

  16. 16.

    CaseyL

    I think it was emptywheel who noted that DoJ passed on indicting Meadows and Scavino because they were cooperating with its investigation. Meadows and Scavino are large-ish fish, so if they’re cooperating, we may see some serious charges against even bigger fish come out of DoJ.

  17. 17.

    JMS

    @Spanky: I’m seeing a lot of “Fetterman won’t say when he’s going back to the trail” and “Dems are looking at their options” concern trolling in the media. John saying he “almost died” doesn’t help! He got a lucky break with the close primary, but I really hope he can start campaigning reasonably soon.

  19. 19.

    Soprano2

    It’s amazing to me (but not surprising) that all TFG’s people seem to believe just talking to TFG automatically gives them privilege. I don’t think that’s how it works.

  20. 20.

    Lyrebird

    @bbleh: Funny how privileged wypipo suddenly become all conscious of police misconduct and rights of the accused when they’ve been arrested. Purely coincidence I’m sure …

    Yep.

    Popehat has some pithy comments along the same lines.  I dont remember the exact wording, just wanted to reinforce your point.

  21. 21.

    bbleh

    @CaseyL: 6-1.  (Purportedly.) Eight inches difference.  Minus hair.  But I was kinda thinking more zombie-movie, y’know, teeth, entrails, panicked screaming …

  22. 22.

    piratedan

    @Soprano2: it’s like they’re still playing schoolyard tag and “touching” TFG means you’re in a “safe zone”.

    seeming sans reflection about how they claimed that Hillary and Obama would all be arrested as soon as the Durham investigation presented its findings.

  23. 23.

    SpaceUnit

    Takes some balls to just flat-out declare that a congressional committee is illegitimate.  Can’t wait to hear that argument.

    I also can’t wait until he stands up in court, points at the judge and screams “No! You’re out of order!”

    This dude is fucked.

  25. 25.

    bbleh

    @piratedan: I think they still believe that.  And if it didn’t actually happen, it should have, and there’s probably a dozen hilariously absurd conspiracy-theory reasons they’d believe as to why it didn’t.

    They don’t think using facts or reason; they use belief and emotion.  X ought to be true, therefore X is true, and if you shout loud enough it will be true, and you can hit anyone who says it isn’t.  It’s not-the-brightest-3rd-grader thinking.

  26. 26.

    MisterForkbeard

    @bbleh: The current theory for why Durham failed miserably to do anything, let alone actually even suggest Hillary did something illegal is this:

    There were democrats on the jury. Maybe even 40% of the jury. That’s it, that’s the entire conspiracy theory and why Durham shoulda won and exposed Hillary. But that’s okay, they’ve moved onto the next insane conspiracy.

    ETA: Actually, they believe that Durham DID expose Hillary, but can’t explain what or how and also think he totally proved Trump’s repeated involvement with Russia was a hoax. Because that’s what the cult requires today and what all their media is telling them.

  27. 27.

    Lyrebird

    @bbleh: I don’t think Fetterman playing an ogre will actually help.

    If he were an oger, I bet he would rather eat McCormick, who is less rangy and tough looking.

    This is sick but hopefully I made someone laff.

  30. 30.

    piratedan

    @SpaceUnit: it follows if you buy into the premise that all government entities that are controlled by Dems are inherently illegal.

    its really scary how these guys have convinced themselves that they are the saviors of the country (self-appointed, ‘natch) and how any questioning of their motives and tactics are seen as de facto justification of their own agenda…

  32. 32.

    bbleh

    @Lyrebird: Lol, I agree; Fetterman should look the ogre, but speak lucidly and intelligently — even a little extra so — and generally behave as a totally normal, reasonable guy.  Win-win-win.

    And yeah, Oz looks like a pretty lousy meal.  I bet his hair is a significant portion of his body weight.  Plus, New Jersey meat just doesn’t stack up against Pennsylvania-bred.

    But the image completely works.  Like, I can see the movie poster.

  33. 33.

    SpaceUnit

    @piratedan:

    Yeah.  And then they end up in court and suddenly the rubber meets the road.

    I’m hoping Rudy Giuliani will be his attorney but God probably doesn’t love me that much.

  34. 34.

    Lyrebird

    @bbleh: LOL indeed.  Thank you, it’s been a long week.

    It has been puzzling me a bit that McC and Oz actually have far more similar looks than I would expect.

    Penna. agriculture for the win!

    More importantly, yes Fetterman go eat up his vote percentage!

  40. 40.

    Redshift

    @CaseyL:

    I think it was emptywheel who noted that DoJ passed on indicting Meadows and Scavino because they were cooperating with its investigation. Meadows and Scavino are large-ish fish, so if they’re cooperating, we may see some serious charges against even bigger fish come out of DoJ.

    Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig says DOJ procedure is to bring charges against people who are cooperating and make not pursuing the charges contingent on their following through on the cooperation. (The charges aren’t necessarily publicly announced, of course.) DOJ has announced they won’t be indicted, which doesn’t fit that practice. So either they’re not cooperating or something very unusual is being done.

    Also, contempt of Congress is a misdemeanor, hardly the sort of thing that would compel cooperation. (IANAL, YMMV, etc.)

  42. 42.

    Redshift

    @MisterForkbeard:

    There were democrats on the jury. Maybe even 40% of the jury. That’s it, that’s the entire conspiracy theory

    This fits with long-running Republican dogma that only a Republican can credibly investigate Democrats, because a Democrat would be biased in their favor, and only a Republican can credibly investigate a Republican, because a Democrat would be biased against them.

  44. 44.

    bbleh

    @CaseyL: @Redshift: Well, there’s also the less, ah, conspiratorial theory that the case would be harder to make because, unlike Bannon and Navarro, Meadows and Scavino were still on staff at the WH (and close to TFG) on January 6, which makes claims of privilege stronger.  DOJ might just have decided that it’s not worth fighting, given the time available (not to mention the right-wing tilt in SCOTUS).

  45. 45.

    bbleh

    @Redshift: And more generally, that only Republicans can legitimately win elections or hold power.  It’s simple tribalism, not a theory of governance (that would take thinking and stuff).

  46. 46.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Leto: if it makes you feel any better Doug  Ducey signed a law giving less power to the next governor regarding public health mandates etc.  so the GOP obviously think there’s a decent chance Katie Hobbs becomes Governor.  At the same time the AZ GOP has filed a lawsuit trying to get rid of early voting and no excuse mail in voting . I am just wondering if this may not get the outcome they want since old folks vote for them and they’re probably the most likely to have issues with not being able to do mail in voting.

  50. 50.

    Geminid

    @Mai Naem mobile: Also, Unaffiliated voters may resent Republicans for restricting voting.  Some independents have a particular animus towards partisan gamesmanship.

    When Arizona voting rolls closed in October, 2020 registrations stood at Republican, 35%,; Democrat, 32%; Unaffiliated, 31.7%. That was a high turnout election, and Mark Kelly and Joe Biden probably could not have won without carrying a majority of independent voters.

  52. 52.

    Geminid

    @bbleh: Meadows’ stands out some because he started out cooperating with the January 6 Committee and then stopped abruptly. I remember former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance White saying at the time that Meadows had already turned over enough material to incriminate himself and others.

    I think that a lot of the texts that the Committee has released came from that cache. Now I wonder if Meadows has turned his coat again, and is cooperating with the Commitee and with prosecutors. I guess we’ll find out before too long. He’s been quiet lately.

  54. 54.

    Edmund Dantes

    @SpaceUnit: if you are talking about Navarro. Dude is representing himself. There was a good thread somewhere of his first appearance at the arraignment.

    PS. He is not a lawyer. He never studied law.

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