Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro received a major blow on Tuesday after a judge denied his request for a new trial on contempt charges.
Navarro was found guilty of contempt of Congress last year for defying a subpoena from the House Select Committee on January 6, 2022.
The 74-year-old had asked the court for a new trial on the premise that a short break for fresh air taken by the jury before delivering its verdict may have tainted its verdict.
“The jury took a break outside for about eight minutes at John Marshall Park adjacent to the courthouse. Several individuals were in the Park at the time, seemingly prepared to protest matters related to January 6,” US District Judge Amit Mehta wrote of Navarro’s complaint.
But Mehta concluded that ultimately there was no evidence that anyone “showed any words or showed any signs to them.”
“Not only has the defendant failed to show prejudice, he has not shown that any of the jurors were actually exposed to any undue outside influence,” Mehta added.
Peter Navarro has denied wrongdoing and insists he is protected by executive privilege. Getty Images
Navarro condemned the decision.
“Just another quiet day of ‘Put Peter in jail,’ ‘Ashley Babbit Has Been Murdered’ and ‘Free the J6 prisoner’ outside the courtroom as the jury in the middle of deliberations roam free. Nothing to see here,” Navarro told The Post.
Navarro was found guilty in September of two counts of contempt for failing to appear for a deposition and failing to produce documents.
Just over two years earlier, Navarro appeared to have taunted the January 6 committee, suggesting it wouldn’t dare call him because he had evidence to clear Trump’s name.
“They want no part of me. I freed Trump and Bannon,” he told the Daily Beast in 2021.
A few weeks later, the panel called him and called him. He refused on the basis of executive privilege, under which the president, and in some cases those close to him, are empowered to withhold information from Congress.
There are at least four former Trump administration officials referred to the Justice Department by a select committee for possible contempt charges.
These include Navarro, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Peter Navarro has created a plan called the “Green Bay Sweep” to make Donald Trump a second term president even if he loses in 2020. REUTERS
The DOJ brought charges against Bannon and Navarro, but not Scavino and Meadows.
Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two counts of contempt and ordered to serve four months in prison and pay a $6,500 fine. He has appealed the conviction.
Late last year, first son Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena for an impeachment inquiry into his father.
The younger Biden held a news conference outside the Capitol Building but later declined to attend. His legal team demanded that the deposition be held in a public setting, which House Republicans refused to do.
Republicans then moved to impeach him, but reportedly put the plan on hold this week amid negotiations to obtain testimony.
Navarro’s sentencing is scheduled for January 25.
Navarro could face between 30 days and a year in jail and fines of up to $100,000 per charge
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
