A federal appeals court on Monday dealt former Trump administration official Peter Navarro another legal blow, siding with the judge who threatened him with contempt of court.
Mr. Navarro recently began serving a four-month prison sentence. was convicted of a crime He was charged in September with contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a committee subpoena on Jan. 6.Federal judges are separate blackmailed The appeals court ruled Monday that Trump would be held in contempt of court if he did not turn over emails from the Trump administration to the National Archives.
“Mr. Navarro argues that the United States cannot use D.C.’s replevin law. [Presidential Records Act] “As such, there is no clear cause of action for the United States to seek return of presidential records,” the D.C. Circuit said. I have written Monday. “Rather, in Mr. Navarro’s view, the United States’ only enforcement mechanism is to punish a sitting employee with presidential records under Section 2209, but since he is no longer an employee, the United States has no right to punish Mr. Navarro. No leverage mechanism can be exercised.”
“Based on long-standing and clear precedent, these arguments are without merit,” the committee continued. (Related: Peter Navarro speaks one last time before reporting to prison)
Navarro’s argument “rejects the United States from recovering presidential records if the employee refuses to return them after being disciplined or leaving federal employment,” the committee said.
Peter Navarro is serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. But he was also held in contempt of court for failing to produce records under the Presidential Records Act. Mr. Navarro was sanctioned by the trial court and appealed. Today he lost:
https://t.co/c0BzaoqMUb— Tom Ryan (@tomryanlaw) April 1, 2024
Department of Justice (DOJ) sued Navarro claimed that emails stored in a personal account he used during his time in office in August 2022 “wrongfully” held U.S. property.
District Judge Colleen Koller-Kottery was appointed by former President Bill Clinton. held Mr. Navarro will have to hand over his emails in March 2023.
“But to Dr. Navarro’s former workplace, there is little in this matter that is noteworthy, much less new,” Koller-Kotely wrote. “The defendant agrees that he took the property of his former employer. He has no intention of returning the property.”
In February ruling After reviewing a random sample of emails, Koller-Kotely said it was “clear” that Navarro “continues to possess presidential records that have not been submitted to their rightful owner, the United States.” It was upheld Monday by the Court of Appeals, he wrote. She instructed Mr. Navarro to produce the remaining “approximately 600 records” and threatened to hold him in contempt.
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