Between 200 and 250 of the emails in Navarro’s private account should have been given to the National Archives, prosecutors say.
Navarro, however, did not copy those messages to his official government email account, according to prosecutors, and when the archivist tried to contact Navarro to secure those records, Navarro did not respond.
The lawsuit is a bold and unusual enforcement move by the Justice Department’s Federal Programs Division — which pursues civil, not criminal, cases — to crack down on alleged improper retention of federal records during the Trump administration.
Public records advocates have long disputed lost, uncreated or deleted records, but the Justice Department has rarely sued former administration officials over the Presidential Records Act.
“Mr. Navarro has refused to return any presidential records he has retained in the absence of a grant of immunity for the act of returning such documents,” the lawsuit states, adding that Navarro is “wrongfully retaining presidential records belonging to the United States. and which form part of the permanent historical record of the previous administration.”
The lawsuit says Justice Department officials tried to negotiate with Navarro and his legal team to get a copy of the emails, but Navarro refused unless he was given “immunity” in return. It’s not clear what Navarro wanted immunity from.
The former trade adviser faces separate contempt of Congress charges after he failed to comply with a subpoena from a House committee investigating Jan. 6, 2021. In July, Navarro rejected a plea offer, claiming former President Donald Trump told him that covered by executive privilege.
Navarro’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
