Obama-Appointed Judge Comments on ‘Curious’ Arrest of Peter Navarro: ‘A Surprise to Me… Self-Surrender Was Not Offered’

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Former Trump administration trade advisor Peter Navarro complained about how the FBI arrested him last month on two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress.

The judge in his case, U.S. District Court Judge Amit Mehta, saw his side of the argument Friday in court.

Navarro appeared before Mehta Friday for a hearing, Politico reported. The judge called Navarro’s June 3rd arrest “curious.”

“It is curious…at a minimum why the government treated Mr. Navarro’s arrest in the way it did,” Mehta said. “It is a federal crime, but it is not a violent crime.”

“It is a surprise to me that self-surrender was not offered,” Mehta added.

Mehta was appointed to the bench by former President Barack Obama in 2014.

Navarro was taken in by agents at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport as he was prepared to depart to Nashville to appear on a broadcast with Mike Huckabee.

He complained when he was released from jail that afternoon agents had every opportunity to avoid a public arrest.

“They didn’t call me,” Navarro told 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 say, ‘Hey, we need you down in court, we’ve got a warrant for you,’ I would have gladly come.”

He griped he was instead “intercepted” boarding a plane.

“Then they put me in handcuffs, they bring me here, they put me in leg irons stick me in a cell,” he said.

According to an FBI report, Navarro called the agents who arrested him “kind Nazis” as he was detained.

He was indicted after failing to comply with a subpoena to speak to lawmakers on the Jan. 6 House select committee. Navarro has evaded the committee, but has not been shy about discussing plans to overturn the 2020 election in public.