Judge denies Navarro ask for new contempt of Congress trial

A federal judge has denied Peter Navarro's request for a new contempt of Congress trial after the former Trump adviser claimed in last year's trial that jurors were biased by protesters outside the courthouse.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said Tuesday during the jury's brief outdoor recess just before the verdict was handed down that the jury was lingering and biased against Jan. 6-related protesters. The court ruled that Mr. Navarro could not be retried because he had not been able to prove that.

Mehta also said that Navarro's lawyers knew the jury could be exposed to protesters before the verdict was reached, but they had no idea whether the jury would rule in their favor before raising concerns. I decided that I was waiting for it. Therefore, they waived it as a basis for a new trial, he wrote.

“Defendants may have no knowledge of allegations of outside improper influence on the jury, may silently bet on a favorable verdict, only to later discover that the jury was unfairly biased by outside influence.'' , only to complain that a retrial is warranted,” Mehta wrote. “That's exactly what happened here.”

Mr. Navarro's attorney, Stanley Woodward, had argued that jurors were exposed to protesters carrying signs related to Jan. 6 after prosecutors linked Mr. Navarro to the circumstances of that day.

But Mehta reviewed video taken from outside the courthouse and found that the only interaction the jurors had was with court security who escorted them outside.

“No one said a word to them or showed them any signs. No one approached them,” Mehta wrote. “Furthermore, the scene itself was relatively calm. There was no indiscriminate shouting or chanting. No one held signs over their heads. There were no activities resembling 'protests.'”

Court security officer Rosa Roldan Torres told a similar story last year when she was called to testify on the stand regarding allegations of improper disclosure. She testified that jurors removed their jury tags before going outside during recess, during which time she was not approached by anyone. She also said Mehta was there the entire time they were outside, which she said was about eight minutes.

It is not uncommon for protesters to gather around the federal courthouse in Washington, several blocks from the Capitol, where high-profile political cases are often heard. Former President Trump's guilty plea in the election interference and seditious conspiracy trial, and the verdict and sentence against members of the extremist Proud Boys and Oath Keepers in connection with the Jan. 6 incident, made headlines.

Navarro was found guilty in September of two counts of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena filed by a House committee investigating the events of January 6. His first charge was for failure to produce documents, and the second charge was for failure to produce documents. Appear in court for a deposition.

The former adviser to President Trump told reporters after his conviction that the reason for his conviction was that prosecutors had suggested that he had a “connection with J6,” which raised questions about the executive privilege of high-ranking officials. He said he expected the case to reach the Supreme Court. White House staff.

“I'm going to go to jail to solve this problem. ,” Navarro said at the time.

Navarro is scheduled to be sentenced next week. Former Trump ally Steve Bannon was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress last year and sentenced to four months in prison, which he is still serving. He is the second person to do so after not having done so.