Peter Navarro was sentenced to four months of incarceration for contempt of Congress, along with a $9,500 fine.
The former Donald Trump White House adviser was charged for refusing to comply with a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Before trial, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected Navarro’s claim that Trump had invoked executive privilege on his behalf. He was convicted by a Washington, D.C., jury in September of two misdemeanor contempt counts.
The Justice Department asked Mehta to impose six months of imprisonment — the most severe term available under sentencing guidelines. Prosecutors also sought a $200,000 fine. Navarro requested no more than six months of probation and a $200 fine.
In their sentencing memo to Mehta last week, prosecutors said Navarro “chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law.” They linked the defendant’s noncompliance to the Jan. 6 insurrection, writing:
The rioters who overran the Capitol on January 6, 2021, did not just attack a building – they assaulted the rule of law upon which this country was built and through which it endures. By flouting the Committee’s subpoena and its authority to investigate that assault, the Defendant exacerbated that assault, following the attack on Congress with his rejection of its authority.
In Navarro’s memo, he cast the case as one involving novel issues that he intends to appeal, seeking to remain free while he challenges his convictions. The judge didn’t immediately rule on Navarro’s request to stay his sentence pending appeal, which will be the subject of further briefing. Subscribe to the Deadline: Legal Newsletter for weekly updates on the top legal stories, including news from the Supreme Court, the Donald Trump cases and more.
Jordan Rubin is the Deadline: Legal Blog writer. He was a prosecutor for the New York County District Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and is the author of “Bizarro," a book about the secret war on synthetic drugs. Before he joined MS NOW, he was a legal reporter for Bloomberg Law.
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