Former Trump White House economics adviser, Peter Navarro, is currently battling legal charges that could potentially lead to his incarceration. Navarro found himself under intense scrutiny after purportedly refusing to comply with a subpoena issued by the January 6 Select Committee in February 2022. The committee sought information regarding Navarro’s alleged collusion with Steve Bannon in an attempt to delay the certification of the 2020 election results on January 6, a topic that could not be protected by executive privilege.
Claiming executive privilege, Navarro declined to respond to the subpoena or engage with the committee. The aftermath of this defiance led to his indictment for contempt of Congress in June 2022. Executive privilege, as Navarro soon found out, could not be used as a blanket cover for inaction, and, contrary to what he and Bannon believed, it did not alleviate the obligation to testify or plead the Fifth Amendment in response to specific questions.
On the eve of his trial, a letter from Trump’s lawyer Evan Corcoran was produced, reasserting Navarro’s supposed obligation to uphold executive privilege. This similarity in behavior between Navarro and Steve Bannon, who had also used a similar strategy, unfortunately did not fare well in court. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that there was insufficient evidence of Trump invoking privilege.
Furthermore, Judge Mehta and Judge Carl Nichols based their verdicts on the principle established by the Licavoli v. United States case, which stated that advice of counsel cannot protect an intentional failure to appear pursuant to a lawful subpoena. The only critical factor was whether Navarro and Bannon knowingly disregarded their subpoenas.
Navarro was convicted within a couple of hours and sentenced to four months in custody. Despite his appeal to suspend the sentence, Judge Mehta remained unmoved. Navarro is now seeking a stay of his sentence from the DC Circuit, claiming that the trial judge was mistaken in applying the Licavoli precedent.
Yet, with a surrender date already set for March 19 in Miami, time is running out for Navarro. If his appeal fails, Navarro is eyeing the possibility of taking his fight to the Supreme Court. However, whether his appeals will bear fruit remains a crucial question.
Further details on the case can be found on the DC Circuit Docket and the Trial Docket via Court Listener.