Peter Navarro, ex-Trump official, sentenced to 4 months in prison for contempt of Congress

Washington — Pedro Navarroformer Trump White House trade official, was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison on two counts of contempt of Congress stemming from his refusal to comply with a subpoena related to his actions after the 2020 election.

In 2022, Navarro challenged a demand for records and testimony from the now-defunct House select committee tasked with investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. A federal jury in Washington, D.C. convicted Navarro after a brief trial in September 2023.

Judge Amit Mehta, who imposed the sentence after a hearing in federal court in Washington, also fined Navarro $9,500. The sentence was less strict than the six months in prison and $600,000 fine that prosecutors had requested. He will not report directly to prison, as his attorneys argue that he should be released while they file an appeal of his conviction. They quickly filed notice that they would ask an appeals court to review the case.

Navarro spoke briefly during Thursday’s hearing and thanked his attorneys and the judge.

“When I received that congressional subpoena… I had the honest belief that the [executive] “A privilege had been invoked,” he said, defying his lawyers’ advice that he not speak on his own behalf.

Navarro’s summons

In February 2022, congressional investigators became interested in Navarro’s efforts to formulate a plan to delay certification of the 2020 presidential election results from his position in the Trump White House. The January 6 Committee issued a subpoena seeking records and testimony, and its chairman said Navarro “appears to have information directly relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation.”

Navarro refused to comply, claiming that former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege over material requested by the committee. President Biden and the White House Counsel’s Office declined to invoke the privilege to protect Navarro from congressional subpoena.

The Democratic-controlled House voted to find him guilty of contempt and referred the matter to the Justice Department for prosecution. The US attorney in Washington then criminally charged him with two counts of contempt.

Prosecutors alleged during the one-day trial last year that Navarro “acted as if he was above the law” when he failed to comply with the committee’s request. His lawyers unsuccessfully urged Mehta, the judge, to allow Navarro to argue that Trump ordered him to assert executive privilege and deny Congress’s request.

At an evidentiary hearing on the executive privilege issue before the trial, Navarro told Mehta that it was “clear” that Trump invoked the protection in a 2022 phone call. The judge, however, was not convinced and banned that defense, saying there was no evidence that any official claim had been made. Navarro ultimately did not take the stand in his own defense.

Navarro sentencing hearing

U.S. Attorney John Crabb told Mehta during Thursday’s sentencing hearing that Navarro “belittled the committee” and had “total contempt” for its work.

He rejected Navarro’s claims that the charges against him were politically motivated. “This prosecution is not the result of partisan politics. It is a fair prosecution,” Crabb said.

Navarro’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, pushed for leniency and said the central question remained whether Navarro thought he was using the privilege as a shield.

“Dr. Navarro is the first former high-level presidential advisor to be prosecuted. This case will be used as a roadmap for future investigations,” Woodward said. “He asserted executive privilege because he believed that he was obligated to fulfill his duty.”

The defense attorney said Navarro asked the House committee to resolve the executive privilege issue with Trump before he testified.

During a sometimes contentious exchange, Meha told Woodward that Navarro refused to hire legal counsel to guide him through the privilege claims when he received the subpoena, which the judge said likely resulted in charges being filed against him. Mehta took issue with Navarro’s decision to make public comments and writings about the 2020 election while also refusing to comply.

“I have great respect for his client and what he accomplished,” Mehta said, adding that it was “disappointing how he behaved.”

“It is regrettable that the statements are misleading,” the judge said. “It’s those kinds of statements from someone who knows better… that contribute to making our politics so corrosive. It’s unfortunate.”

Mehta said Navarro “knows better” and noted that he has a doctorate from Harvard. Woodward responded that Navarro’s public statements have reinforced his client’s belief that he was protected by executive privilege.

The judge finally said Thursday that he took the defendant at his word and said it was likely that Navarro was at least operating under the assumption that he was subject to a privilege. But there was no concrete evidence, the judge said, that Trump officially ordered Navarro to do so.

Executive privilege, Mehta maintained, is neither a “magic dust” nor a “get out of jail free card.”

Navarro himself said he was “disappointed with a process in which a jury convicted me and I cannot present a defense.” He said the lesson of the legal process and Congress was to get a lawyer once summoned.

“The moment the violence broke out at the Capitol was one of the worst moments of my life,” he said, referring to January 6.

Navarro’s attorney also took issue with what prosecutors said was a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 days in prison. Woodward urged the court to reconsider its interpretation of a law requiring prison sentences, a request Mehta said he could not grant based on legal precedent and a federal statute.

“This case is far from over,” Woodward said. “These are complicated issues.”

“Dr. Navarro, I think the country owes you a debt of gratitude for your work on the coronavirus,” Mehta said, highlighting Navarro’s efforts to increase production of protective medical equipment.

“This was a significant effort by Congress to get to the bottom of a terrible day in the country’s history,” the judge said. “The sentence should reflect that.”

Lawmakers, Mehta said, “had a job to do and you made it harder. It’s really that simple.”

“He wants you to believe that this is political persecution and, at the same time, he accepts responsibility,” he continued. “It takes some chutzpah.”

Navarro is the second Trump ally convicted of defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Steve Bannon was found guilty in 2022 of the same two charges after failing to comply with a subpoena. He was sentenced to four months in prison, but a federal judge suspended the sentence to allow his appeal to move forward.