Peter Navarro is the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress expenses.
Former US President Trump’s commerce adviser Peter Navarro has been sentenced to 4 months in jail for contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the January 6 assault on the Capitol.
Navarro was discovered responsible of defying a subpoena for paperwork and a deposition from the Home January 6 committee.
He pledged to enchantment Thursday’s verdict and mentioned he couldn’t cooperate with the committee as a result of Trump had invoked government privilege.
A choose banned him from making that argument throughout trial, discovering that he didn’t present that Trump had invoked it.
Navarro mentioned in courtroom earlier than his sentencing that the Home committee investigating the January 6 assault had led him to consider that it accepted his invocation of government privilege, which shields some presidential data and communications from disclosure.
“Nobody in my position should be put in conflict between the legislative branch and the executive branch,” he informed the choose.
He added that there was “no reason for the harsh punishment” prosecutors have been in search of.
However US District Decide Amit Mehta refuted his declare and mentioned, “You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution”.
“These are circumstances of your own making,” he added.
Federal prosecutors in Washington had requested Decide Mehta to present Navarro a six-month sentence and a $200,000 high-quality, arguing that he selected to be loyal to Trump over the rule of legislation.
“The defendant brazenly defied Congress,” prosecutor John Crabb mentioned.
Prosecutors additionally mentioned that Navarro tried to “hide behind claims of privilege” even earlier than he knew what the committee wished, exhibiting a “disdain” for the committee.
His sentencing got here after a choose rejected his bid for a brand new trial after his legal professionals argued that jurors may need been influenced by protesters outdoors the courtroom after they took a break from deliberations.
Navarro, 74, suggested Trump on commerce points throughout his presidency and have become a vocal supporter of Trump’s false claims of widespread voting fraud within the 2020 election.
Trump backers regarded to forestall Congress from certifying President Biden’s victory throughout a conflict with police and rampaging by means of the Capitol.
Navarro is the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress expenses, after former White Home adviser Steve Bannon, who additionally obtained a four-month sentence however is free pending enchantment.
The choose presiding over Thursday’s sentencing additionally criticised Navarro for his previous statements that Biden and different distinguished Democrats are behind his conviction.
“Joe Biden is not responsible for your prosecution,” the choose informed Navarro.
“It’s those kinds of statements from somebody who knows better than that contributes to why our politics are so corrosive.”