Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser to President Donald Trump, has been convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with an inquiry into the US Capitol riot. Navarro now faces up to a year in prison for each of the two contempt charges.
Navarro, who served as Mr. Trump’s senior trade adviser throughout his presidency, received a subpoena from a US House of Representatives select committee in February 2022. However, he did not hand over any requested emails or documents, nor did he appear to testify before the Democratic-led panel. The committee had hoped to question Navarro about efforts to delay certification of the 2020 election.
In June 2022, Navarro was indicted and later arrested by FBI agents at a Washington airport. His lawyer argued that the evidence would not show that Navarro was willfully refusing to comply.
When contacted by the committee, Navarro claimed former President Trump instructed him to cite executive privilege, a legal principle that allows certain White House communications to be kept confidential. However, Judge Amit Mehta ruled that there was no evidence to support Navarro’s use of executive privilege to ignore the committee’s summons.
Navarro’s lawyers are also motioning for a mistrial, alleging that jury members encountered protesters outside of court during their deliberations.
In his book ‘In Trump Time,’ Navarro claimed to be the architect of a strategy to challenge the election results, citing evidence of widespread voter fraud. The idea was for congressional Republicans to delay certification of President Joe Biden’s victory, a strategy Navarro referred to as the Green Bay Sweep.
Another key Trump ally, former strategist Steve Bannon, was convicted of two counts of contempt for defying the committee’s legal summons in July 2022. He received a four-month jail sentence but remains free while his defense team appeals the conviction.
Navarro’s sentencing is scheduled for January. In addition to a maximum sentence of a year in prison for each count, he also faces fines of up to $100,000 (£80,000).
SOURCE : BBC