Peter Navarro, an official at the White House during the Trump administration, has been convicted of contempt of Congress due to his refusal to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the events leading up to and during the Jan. 6th insurrection in 2021.
He was sentenced to four months behind bars for his role. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon also received a four-month sentence. But he is free pending an appeal.
Navarro, found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan 6. committee, served as White House trade adviser under Donald Trump. He also promoted the claim of mass voter fraud after Donald Trump lost the election in 2020 to Joe Biden.
He has stated that he would appeal the verdict and couldn't cooperate with the committee because Trump invoked executive privilege. However, a judge barred him from both making that statement and using it as a defense in court. The judge further stated that Navarro didn't show that Trump had even invoked executive privilege.
Before sentencing on Thursday Navarro stated that the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack led him to believe that, if he accepted his invocation of executive privilege, it would protect him.
"Nobody in my position should be put in conflict between the legislative branch and the executive branch," he told the judge."
You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution," the judge said. "These are circumstances of your own making.
Navarro's legal council had advised him not to address the judge but he did so despite that.
Responding to a question about why he didn't initially seek a lawyer's counsel, he told the judge, "I didn't know what to do, sir."
But don't expect the defendant to be serving his sentence any time soon. He remains free pending an appeal on which his defense is to submit a written brief.
Prosecutors for the Justice Department argued that Navarro tried to hide behind claims of prvilege prior to knowing what the committee wanted before hand.
This could have warranted a longer sentence. Prosecutors had asked a judge to sentence him to six months behind bars and impose a $200,000 fine.
Defense attorneys said Trump did claim executive privilege, putting Navarro in an "untenable position," and they asked for a sentence of probation and a $100 fine.
