Peter Navarro, Former Trump White House Official, Sentenced to Four Months for Contempt of Congress

On Thursday, former Trump administration official Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress. The charges against Navarro stated that he refused to cooperate with the Congressional investigation into the Jan 6th, 2021, incidents at the U.S. Capitol. Navarro served as a White House trade adviser in the Trump administration from 2017 to 2021, first as Director of the National Trade Council and then as Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.

Trump White House official Peter Navarro, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, was sentenced on Thursday to four months behind bars.
He was the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges, after former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who also got a four-month sentence but is free pending appeal.
Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. He served as a White House trade adviser under then-President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.

Navarro has described the charges against himself as politically motivated and sought a new trial after his conviction on two misdemeanor charges of contempt of Congress. The charges are based on Navarro's alleged defiance of a House Jan. 6 committee's subpoena for documents.

Navarro’s sentencing comes after a judge rejected his bid for a new trial. His attorneys had argued that jurors may have been improperly influenced by political protesters outside the courthouse when they took a break from deliberations. Shortly after their break, the jurors found Navarro guilty of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress.
But U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Navarro didn’t show that the eight-minute break had any effect on the September verdict. He found no protest was underway and no one approached the jurors — they interacted only with each other and the court officer assigned to accompany them.

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It is important to note the fact that some key Democrats have been held to account for these kinds of charges without spending any time in the Crowbar Hotel. One key example: Obama administration Attorney General Eric Holder was held in contempt of Congress in 2012. Jail time: Zero. Biden administration Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas has repeatedly declined to testify in a case that could lead to his impeachment but has been effectively given a pass.

The judge presiding over Navarro's case, Amit Mehta of the United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Court, is expected to consider a motion by Navarro's attorneys to allow him to remain free pending an appeal of his case. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon was also sentenced to four months on similar charges but is at present free pending appeal.