Peter Navarro, a former trade advisor to Donald Trump, was sentenced to a four month prison term by a federal court in Washington DC last Thursday. The two charges leading to Navarro’s sentencing were contempt of Congress, both connected to the investigations surrounding the January 6 insurrection. These charges can be tied back to Navarro’s unwillingness to appear for a deposition and refusal to provide documents in compliance with a Congressional subpoena, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
The Federal District Court for the DC Circuit had previously found Navarro guilty after a jury trial in September 2023. The former trade advisor is also required to pay a fine of $9,500, as ordered by the presiding judge, Judge Amit Mehta.
In defense of their client, Navarro’s legal team attempted to invoke executive privilege, citing Navarro’s former status within the Trump administration as reason for him to be exempt from Congressional requests for information about the January 6 matter. Judge Mehta, however, dismissed this argument, and prevented the executive privilege defense from being used at trial. This decision was made due to no supportive evidence being provided that showed the Trump administration ever declared this right.
Navarro is now the second official from the Trump administration to face conviction and a prison sentence resulting from non-compliance with Congress’s investigators for the January 6 insurrection. Prosecutors have alleged that Navarro, alongside Steve Bannon (another former Trump advisor), were both central figures in an effort to submit false presidential elector slates to Congress, providing a false premise for the violent upheaval. Bannon himself was convicted of contempt of Congress charges related to January 6 and served four months in federal prison.
A DOJ sentencing memo addressed to Judge Mehta claimed that both Navarro and Bannon’s actions, as well as the actions of those involved in the Capitol riot, posed a threat to the integrity of the US government. According to U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, these actors “put politics, not country, first, and stonewalled Congress’s investigation.” He added that Navarro prioritized loyalty to former President Trump over adherence to the rule of law.
Currently, Trump is also under criminal investigation for his potential involvement in the events leading up to and during the Capitol riot on January 6. Navarro’s lawyers anticipate that more developments will keep coming, as they informed the judge last Thursday that their case is “far from over.” An appeal of the sentence was filed that same day.