Federal prosecutors want former Trump aide Peter Navarro to go to prison for six months for choosing “loyalty to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law” when he defied a House select committee subpoena on Jan. 6. .
Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi made the argument in a sentencing memorandum filed Thursday night and obtained by Politico.
Navarro was found guilty in September of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress and is scheduled to be sentenced next week.
Aloi argued that Navarro “belittled the authority of Congress and refused to comply” when he received a subpoena from the House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
“He hid his bad faith strategy of defiance and contempt behind baseless and unfounded invocations of executive privilege and immunity that could not and would never apply to his situation,” the memo states.
Peter Navarro speaks to reporters after attending a hearing in his contempt of Congress trial for refusing to cooperate with the HOP committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. REUTERS
“…the defendant, like the rioters at the Capitol, put politics, not country, first, and blocked the Congressional investigation,” the memo also states. “The defendant chose loyalty to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law even after being informed that executive privilege would not excuse his failure to comply.”
In addition to six months in prison, Navarro should be ordered to pay a $200,000 fine, the feds argued.
The former Trump adviser attempted to present a defense focused on claiming that the 45th president had invoked executive privilege that would protect him from subpoena, but U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta rejected that argument last year during his trial.
The former Trump aide attempted to launch a defense by claiming that the 45th president had invoked executive privilege that would protect him from subpoena. AP
Because Mehta rejected that possible defense, Navarro said after his conviction that he was not surprised by the verdict.
Navarro’s lawyers argued in their sentencing memorandum that complex laws and precedents regarding executive privilege for White House advisers should lead to a lenient sentence of at most six months of probation for each count, Politico reported.
“Dr. Navarro’s actions do not arise from a lack of respect for the law, nor from any belief that he is above the law,” his lawyers insisted in the memo.
Peter Navarro’s lawyers argued that laws and precedents regarding executive privilege for White House aides should lead to a lenient sentence of probation on each count, Politico reported. AFP via Getty Images
“Rather, Dr. Navarro acted because he reasonably believed he had a duty to assert executive privilege on behalf of former President Trump.”
Navarro was the second Trump aide to face charges after refusing to appear before Congress. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon was convicted on two counts and sentenced to four months in prison, but is currently free pending appeal.
Other former Trump White House officials, former Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, were referred to the Justice Department for possible contempt charges, although they ultimately did not face charges.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn