Opinion
Former senior Trump advisor Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison for defying a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6th protest at the Capitol.
A federal grand jury indicted Navarro this past summer on two criminal contempt of Congress charges, one for failing to appear at a deposition, and another for refusing to produce documents despite a subpoena by the Committee.
He was convicted in September 2023 on both counts.
Prosecutors in the case were seeking a six-month prison sentence claiming that Navarro showed “utter disregard” for the House committee’s probe and “utter contempt for the rule of law.”
Steve Bannon, another former White House advisor under President Donald Trump, was also convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress last year.
On top of his prison sentence, Navarro was ordered to pay a $9,500 fine.
RELATED: Former Trump Advisor Peter Navarro Indicted For Not Complying With Jan. 6 Committee
Navarro Heading To Prison – Reaction
Navarro’s defense centered on his belief that he was protected by executive privilege, which he claimed was invoked by former President Trump. However, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that there was no evidence of Trump formally invoking executive privilege to shield Navarro from the committee.
And prosecutors fed the judge what some would characterize as a gross inflation of the committee’s worth.
“The committee was investigating an attack on the very foundation of our democracy,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Crabb said. “There could be no more serious investigation undertaken by Congress.”
There was very little of serious value that came from the January 6th committee which has now been found to have destroyed files after disbanding when Republicans took control of the House.
U.S. District Judge Mehta, who was nominated to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia by former President Barack Obama, claimed that the Justice Department’s pursuit of Navarro was not motivated by politics.
“It’s unfortunate that the statements mislead. They mislead,” Mehta said. “Nancy Pelosi is not responsible for this prosecution; Joe Biden isn’t responsible for the prosecution. It’s those kinds of statements from someone who knows better … that contributes to why our politics are so divisive.”
RELATED: Hillary Clinton Taunts Steve Bannon With Message Reminding She’s ‘Never Been Indicted’
Police State?
There were some who took exception to Mehta’s contention that the pursuit of Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon over defiance of a politically biased committee of questionable authority was not a political prosecution.
Especially as the public watches President Biden’s own son openly flaunting his defiance of congressional subpoenas.
Former White House Advisor Sebastian Gorka slammed the sentencing as evidence of a deep state pursuit of the previous administration.
“Peter Navarro has been sentenced to 4 months in prison for refusing to testify before Pelosi’s illegal J6 committee,” he wrote. “Hunter Biden is walking around a free man.”
“The police state has arrived,” he added.
Trending Politics co-owner Collin Rugg also took aim at Mehta’s specious claims that the Justice Department wasn’t heavily engrossed in political persecution.
“Selective ‘justice’ strikes again,” he wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Navarro indicated that he would continue the appeals process.
“It is a case that really asks the important question of whether a senior White House aide and alter ego for the president can be compelled to testify by Congress,” he said amidst protesters.
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