(ReliableNews.org) – A federal grand jury indicted former White House advisor Peter Navarro in 2022. He was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the January 6 House Select Committee. In September 2023, he was found guilty. Now, the Department of Justice has asked the court to give him jail time.
On January 18, the DOJ submitted a 20-page sentencing memo to the US District Court and requested Navarro serve six months in jail for each of the two counts and pay a $200,000 fine. Assistant US Attorney Elizabeth Aloi accused him of choosing his “allegiance to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law” even after he was told that executive privilege was not an excuse to defy the subpoena. President Joe Biden had already decided he wouldn’t invoke executive privilege, a power he possessed as the current commander-in-chief.
According to the DOJ, Navarro dared the congressional committee to issue a subpoena by “taunting them,” saying lawmakers didn’t “want any part of [him]” because he would allegedly exonerate the former president and ex-advisor Steve Bannon. Authorities included tweets from Navarro where he said contempt of Congress wasn’t a crime and if it was, “80% of America would be in jail.”
Aloi argued Navarro would likely defy Congress’ authority again if it meant he was serving the “political interests of his allies and patrons.”
POLITICO reported that Navarro submitted his own sentencing memo and continued to assert he had executive privilege. US District Court Judge Amit Mehta already ruled that the defendant didn’t provide the court with any evidence that Trump intended to invoke privilege.
Navarro’s legal team is asking for six months probation per count and a small fine. He is the second Trump official to be found guilty of defying the congressional committee. Bannon was also found guilty and received a four-month sentence.
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