OAN's Brooke Mallory
11:59am – Thursday, January 25, 2024
Peter Navarro, a former White House aide to President Trump, was fined $9,500 for failing to respond to a Congressional subpoena to assist a House special committee investigating the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol. He was sentenced to a fine and four months in prison.th2021.
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In September, Navarro was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress. One of the counts against him is that he refused to appear before the commission for his deposition, and another is that he failed to produce documents.
During his sentencing hearing Thursday in federal court, Navarro told U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta that former President Donald Trump claimed executive privilege when he received the subpoena. “I believe that,'' but this argument was refuted by the prosecution in court. trial.
“The moment the violence broke out at the Capitol, it was one of the worst days of my life,” Navarro said.
Mr. Navarro's lawyer, Stanley Woodward, also argued that Mr. Navarro was not alone in ignoring subpoenas issued by the House Select Committee.
“Dan Scavino did not provide any testimony. Mark Meadows did not provide any testimony,” but the Justice Department has not filed contempt charges against either of these two White House officials. I didn't raise it.
Judge Mehta also disagreed with Woodward's claim that Navarro had “accepted responsibility” for his misconduct.
“I have not heard a single word of repentance since this case began,” the judge said.
Navarro's lawyers filed an appeal immediately after the verdict.
After Steve Bannon was found guilty in July of ignoring his January 6 sentence.th Navarro is the second Trump aide to be convicted and imprisoned for refusing to respond to an investigation, according to the committee's subpoena.
Bannon was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison, but the sentence was suspended pending appeal.
Mr. Navarro served as director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy in the Trump administration. Prosecutors had asked for a six-month prison sentence for him.
“The mandated minimum sentence of one month in prison is insufficient to explain, punish, and deter defendant's criminal offenses,” prosecutors wrote last week. “For each count, the court should instead impose a sentence of six months in prison, at the high end of the advisory sentencing range of the applicable guidelines, and fine defendant $100,000.”
Prosecutors said in a memo that the six-month sentences for each crime could be served consecutively.
Navarro's attorneys had asked the judge to give him no more than six months and impose a $100 fee on each charge.
Results of a 17-month investigation that began on January 6thth Although the final report was released and concluded in December 2022, the commission determined that there was a “multi-part conspiracy to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 presidential election.” The committee's 11 recommendations include asking Congress to support the electoral vote certification process, support efforts to combat “violent extremism” and intimidation of election officials, and increase the efficiency of the Capitol Police. It includes what you are asking for.
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