Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro speaks to the media as he departs federal court, Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2023, in Washington. Navarro was convicted Thursday, Sept. 7, of contempt of Congress charges filed after he was accused of refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)
By Lindsay Whitehurst
Trump White House official Peter Navarro was found guilty Thursday of contempt of Congress charges for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The verdict came after a short trial for Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost.
Navarro was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges after former White House adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted of two counts and was sentenced to four months behind bars, though he has been free pending appeal.
Navarro vowed to appeal the verdict, saying the “die was cast” after a judge ruled that he couldn't fight the charges by arguing he couldn't cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found that Navarro didn't have enough evidence to show Trump had invoked it.
“This is a landmark case that’s bound for the Supreme Court,” Navarro said. Defense attorney John Rowley echoed that, saying “this case is not over by a long shot.”
Mehta scheduled Navarro's sentencing for Jan. 12. Navarro was convicted in Washington's federal courthouse of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, both punishable by up to a year behind bars.
The verdict came after a four-hour jury deliberation. After it was read, defense attorney Stanley Woodward moved for a mistrial, saying that the jurors had taken an outdoor break near where protesters and media regularly gather outside the courthouse and came back with a verdict shortly after. Mehta did not immediately rule, but said he would consider written arguments on the issue.
Prosecutors argued at trial that Navarro acted as if he were “above the law” when he defied a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee.
A defense attorney countered that Navarro didn’t purposely ignore the House Jan. 6 Committee. Navarro instead told staffers to contact Trump about what might be protected by executive privilege, something that didn’t happen, Woodward said.
Prosecutors, though, argued that even if Trump had invoked executive privilege, Navarro should have handed over what material he could and flagged any questions or documents believed to be protected. They said much of the material the committee sought was already publicly available.
“Peter Navarro made a choice. He chose not abide by the congressional subpoena,” prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi said. “The defendant chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over compliance to the subpoena.”
Barred from relying on the executive privilege argument at trial, the defense argued that Navarro had not acted “willfully” or only out of loyalty to Trump.
“Do we know that his failure to comply beyond reasonable doubt wasn’t the result of accident, inadvertence or mistake?” Woodward said.
The House Jan. 6 committee finished its work in January, after a final report that said Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 election and failed to act to stop a mob of his supporters from attacking the Capitol.
Trump, meanwhile, faces a federal indictment in Washington, D.C., and a state indictment in Georgia over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat. He has denied wrongdoing and has said he was acting within the law.
Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders are now planning to amend the stop trading on congressional knowledge act, otherwise known as the 'Stock' Act. This 2012 law governs how members disclose the purchase or sale of stocks and amending it would close a loophole, eliminating the trading of individual stocks by members of congress. Pelosi has consistently opposed a ban on stock trading by lawmakers and congressional staff...so what's changed? Kedric Payne, Vice President of Campaign Legal Center, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
In a 5-4 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed for a controversial new version of the Alabama congressional map to remain in place. The lower court had previously ordered that the state must redraw that congressional map because it violates the Voting Rights Act by diluting the political power of Black voters. Redistricting expert Yurij Rudensky joins Cheddar News to weigh in.
Florida lawmakers have introduced a controversial bill restricting some discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms with young students. Supporters say the move empowers parents to have more of a say in what their children learn. Florida State Senator Shevrin Jones joins Cheddar News to discuss more.
Congress this week passed a bill that would end forced arbitration for workplace sexual assault and harassment, one of the most significant changes to employment law in years. Cheddar News speaks with Marjorie Mesidor, Sexual Harassment Attorney, who explains that arbitrators are often retired judges or attorneys who "tends to have a more conservative view both to law and rewards."
As the situation with Russia has grown more precarious, the White House urged Americans remaining in Ukraine to leave immediately. The Biden administration that it sees continuing signs of escalation but did not have specific information detailing a timetable for a potential invasion. Kristine Berzina, senior fellow and head of the geopolitics team at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, joined Cheddar News to provide her analysis. "There's talk of an impending phone call between President Putin, President Biden," Berzina said. "That is certainly a good sign to indicate that there would be significant cost."
Terrell Starr, host of 'Black Diplomats' podcast and senior nonresident fellow at the Eurasia Center for Atlantic Council, joins Cheddar News from Kyiv, Ukraine to discuss the mounting tension there.
The White House laid out plans for a $5 billion investment into a national network of charging stations to ease EV driving anxiety. Bruce Brimacombe, CEO of EV infrastructure GOe3 joined Cheddar News to discuss how much needs to be done for drivers to get over the fear of running out of energy. "People need to be able to do what they're doing now," he said. "But that is the way that if you're going to buy an electric car, you got to feel like you're not changing your world." Brimacombe noted that building out the infrastructure between cities was GOe3's own focus.
U.S. automakers are saying that the blockade of the Ambassador Bridge, a crucial border crossing between the U.S. and Canada, is affecting their production lines. Michelle Krebs of Cox Automotive warns that the disruption "couldn't come at a worst time," amid chip and labor shortages in Detroit.
AND DETROIT-BASED AUTO MAKERS SAY THEY ARE SHUTTING DOWN PLANTS OR SCALING BACK PRODUCTION BECAUSE OF PARTS SHORTAGES.
Plans to add affordable housing to a development in Yellow Springs, Ohio, were squashed after comedian Dave Chappelle and other community members spoke out against the project. Chappelle threatened to pull the plug on his local comedy club and restaurant projects if the development had been approved.
