Former President Trump White House official Peter Navarro was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison for ignoring a subpoena from the House Select Committee that investigated the 2021 Capitol riot.
Navarro, 74, claimed he could not subpoena testimony and related documents due to executive privilege, but a D.C. jury found him guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress in September.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta: “Since this case began, I have not heard a single word of repentance from Dr. Navarro.'' Said before imposing a penalty.
Despite the former presidential trade adviser's pleas for mercy, Mehta was still serving the mandatory minimum of two months behind bars.
Navarro told reporters upon his arrival that he is the subject of a “very important, landmark constitutional case that resolves important questions about the Constitution's separation of powers and the integrity and efficiency of presidential decision-making.” He claimed that.
The same courthouse will hold the trial of former President Donald Trump, who challenged the results of the 2020 election prior to the riot. The trial is expected to take place this year as the 77-year-old former president seeks re-election for a second non-consecutive term against President Biden in the November election.
Mr. Navarro, best known for advocating for tariffs and a tougher economic approach toward China, was the White House director of trade and manufacturing policy during the Trump administration, but he was not involved in certifying Mr. Biden's victory in the Electoral College. He resigned from his position two weeks after the riot he disrupted.
President Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who unlike Navarro was not a White House aide at the time of the riot, was convicted in July 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress and sentenced to four years in prison. Sentenced to 1 month. Bannon will be released pending his appeal.
Navarro said a late attempt to reverse course failed, but only after the House voted against it.
“I contacted the Department of Justice,” Navarro told reporters after his arrest by the FBI in June 2022. “I offered them a possible path forward.” “The same kind of response you would see in Stalin's Russia or the Communist Party of China.”
The lawsuit was brought by the office of U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, a Biden appointee whose team is working on two other Trump charges the then-Democratic-controlled House passed in contempt. He refused to prosecute his former aides.
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Trump's social media director Dan Scavino were not indicted, but the judge in Navarro's case said this meant the charges were politically motivated. He said this undermines Mr. Navarro's argument.
Mehta: “Joe Biden is not responsible for prosecuting you.'' declared At one point, Politico journalist Kyle Cheney reported on the courtroom exchanges in a live-tweet chain.
Graves has come under fire from Republicans for failing to prosecute many traditional criminal cases.His office independently prosecutes both federal and local crimes in Washington, D.C., and did not file charges. 67% 2022 post-arrest period and 56% As of 2023.
Graves blames accreditation problems at D.C.'s crime labs, but critics point to a spike in violent crime in the nation's capital. 82% spike In 2023, car thefts will increase by 67% for robberies and 35% for homicides.
