Peter Navarro, former White House trade advisor, outside of the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., August 31. Navarro was convicted on two counts for criminal contempt after he refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
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Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Peter Navarro, former White House trade advisor, outside of the federal court on August 31. Navarro was convicted on two counts for criminal contempt after he refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Select Committee that investigated the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Peter Navarro, a former Trump adviser, was found guilty on Thursday of two counts criminal contempt for Congress after he refused to comply with a subpoena issued by the House Committee investigating the attack that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2010. A federal jury deliberated less than four hour before reaching its verdict. Navarro is the second former aide of the former president who has been prosecuted because he refused to cooperate with the select panel.
Navarro was initially subpoenaed in February 2022 by the select committee, which sought his testimony and demanded that he hand over documents related the investigation. The Democratic-led committee issued the subpoena after Navarro published a memoir detailing his attempts to delay certification of the results of the 2020 elections. Navarro responded to the subpoena by claiming he wasn’t required to testify because he had been shielded from testimony due to executive privilege via former President Trump. Amit Mehta, a U.S. district court judge, dismissed this defense before Navarro’s case. With his conviction, Navarro now faces up to one year in prison and a fine of up to $100,000 for each charge.
Thursday’s verdict capped a two-day trial that featured less than three hours of witness testimony — none of which came from the defense team. Prosecutors said that Navarro “chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump” over abiding by the congressional subpoena.
“Our government only works when people play by the rules and it only works when people are held accountable when they do not. According to Politico, when a person deliberately and intentionally chooses to ignore a congressional summons, it is a crime. As the trial began this week, Navarro wrote on X, a social media platform formerly called Twitter, that “Trial starts an hour. I love the smell justice in the morning.” Can’t smell anything. He also claimed online on Tuesday that he is being tried for an “alleged crime” which no senior White House official has ever been charged with. This is the second guilty verdict for a former Trump adviser who failed to cooperate with the House Select Committee’s investigation into the attack on Jan. 6. Steve Bannon was a former chief strategist and advisor to President Obama. He was sentenced to 4 months in prison for refusing to comply with a committee subpoena last October. However, he remains free until an appeal is heard.