Peter Navarro Sentenced to 4 Months for Contempt of Congress

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Facts

• Peter Navarro, who was a trade advisor to former US Pres. Donald Trump, was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison for not complying with a subpoena from the House select committee probing the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.¹
• While Navarro had argued that Trump directed him not to testify under executive privilege protections, he was convicted in September on two misdemeanor counts of criminal contempt of Congress. The four-month sentencing is lower than the six months originally requested by prosecutors.¹
• The federal prosecutors also asked the court to fine Navarro $200K, but Amit Judge Mehta issued a $9.5K fine. After the hearing, Navarro appealed the case to the Circuit Court of Appeals, with his attorneys last week having asked the judge to pause the sentencing until the appeals process is over.²
• Judge Mehta barred Navarro from using the executive privilege defense in the case, claiming he failed to prove that Trump had invoked it. Meanwhile, his defense attorneys maintained that Trump did invoke such privilege and argued he should only be sentenced to probation and a $100 fine.³
• Judge Mehta didn't immediately rule on the defense's request for a pause pending the appeal. Instead, he asked for another briefing on the matter and gave Navarro one week to hand it in.⁴
• Navarro is the second former Trump advisor to be convicted of contempt of Congress. Former Trump chief strategist Steve Bannon was sentenced to four month's imprisonment in July 2022, though he has remained out of jail pending his appeal.⁵

Sources: ¹New York Times, ²CNN, ³FOX News, ⁴NBC and ⁵New York Post.

Narratives

• Anti-Trump narrative, as provided by New York Times. Peter Navarro helped cause the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol and worked to undermine the congressional investigation into that tragic day. As a staunch Trump supporter, the former trade advisor pushed lies about the 2020 election results and then falsely claimed executive privilege protected him from testifying about the role he played on that day. Those are the criminal offenses that have led to his conviction and sentencing.
• Pro-Trump narrative, as provided by InfoWars. All that can be said here is that Washington is biased against Trump and his supporters. This sentencing comes just weeks after the son of Democratic Pres. Joe Biden did the same thing Navarro did — but, of course, Hunter Biden won't face the same consequences. Even House Republicans — who had the power to charge Hunter with contempt — failed to do so. This is a sad state of affairs.

Predictions