Donald Trump’s former economics adviser and fellow coup plotter Peter Navarro was indicted Friday on two contempt of Congress charges after refusing to cooperate with the House January 6 committee. Specifically, Navarro failed to produce documents the committee demanded and failed to show up for subpoenaed testimony before House investigators.
PREVIOUSLY: Peter Navarro Got A Jan 6 Subpoena And His Reply Will Leave You All ‘That One Guy Blinking Dot Gif’!
Navarro was arrested at a Washington, DC, airport on his way to Nashville. He seemed really put out over the indictment, and ranted about the uncivilized treatment he received.
He whined to reporters, “Instead of coming to my door, where I live, which by the way is right next to the FBI. Instead of calling me and saying we need you down at court, we’ve got a warrant for you — I would have gladly come. What did they do? They intercepted me getting on the plane and then they put me in handcuffs, they bring me here. They put me in leg irons. They stick me in a cell.“
Navarro seems to think the police deliver messages like they’re manservants in a Jane Austen novel: “The Duke of FBI requests the pleasure of your company at the congressional ball.” Navarro was asked to comply with a subpoena and he told the committee to go climb its thumb. Contempt of Congress is a crime, and cops don’t normally give criminal suspects the white glove treatment.
PREVIOUSLY: Trump Econ Loon Peter Navarro Threatens LOCK HER UPS For Dr. Fauci In Newsmax Rant
This is a stark difference from Navarro’s unhinged fantasies about a GOP-controlled House grilling Dr. Anthony Fauci under hot lights. Just a couple weeks ago, he vamped on Newsmax, “Here’s your future, Tony. Republicans are gonna sweep and take the House back from Nancy Pelosi. And as soon as that happens, you’re gonna sit your ass down in a chair in Congress, and you’re gonna confess to creating the virus that’s killed almost a million Americans now, all on your watch, sir.”
Navarro imagines a world where Dr. Fauci will “confess” to biological warfare and mass murder (especially since he’s not guilty), but he personally can’t be bothered to discuss events he blabbed about in his own book. Republicans apparently believe congressional committees and the subpoenas they issue are only legitimate when they’re in charge.
But what about the message it sends (white) children when (white) Republicans are expected to obey the law? GOP Rep. Louie Gohmert from Texas expressed his concerns Friday over the precedent Navarro’s indictment might set.
GOHMERT: It actually puts an exclamation point on the fact that we have a two-tiered justice system. If you’re a Republican, you can’t even lie to Congress or lie to an FBI agent or they’re coming after you. They’re gonna bury you.
Gee, why do Democrats have such contempt for the innocent, patriotic pastime of lying to Congress and the FBI? These are felonies, by the way, even if Republican presidents have pardoned guilty parties in the past. President Bill Clinton’s Whitewater investment partner, Susan McDougal, was thrown in jail when she refused to testify for Kenneth Starr, whose investigation she considered illegitimate and political.
Living Edgar Allan Poe character Rudy Giuliani declared that “the arrest of Peter Navarro and the failure to arrest (Joe) Biden and his son means we live in a Democrat police state.” This racist diarrhea was once a federal prosecutor. His conviction record would’ve suffered if witnesses routinely told him to go pound sand. It’s also galling how the architect of “stop and frisk” defines a “police state.” Navarro wasn’t pulled over at random while minding his own business.
Giuliani also frequently argued that Donald Trump couldn’t be indicted or even subpoenaed because he was a sitting president, which Joe Biden currently is.
But this isn’t hypocrisy. It’s consistent with the RIght’s embrace of the authoritarian adage: “For my friends everything. For my enemies … the law.”
[CNN]
Follow Stephen Robinson on Twitter.
Do your Amazon shopping through this link, because reasons.
Yr Wonkette is 100 percent ad-free! Please subscribe, donate, and otherwise help keep us alive and kicking!
