Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro was dealt a blow Tuesday after a judge rejected his request for a new trial on contempt charges.
Navarro was found guilty of contempt of Congress last year for defying a Jan. 6, 2022 House Select Committee subpoena.
The 74-year-old had asked the court for a new trial on the premise that a brief fresh air break the jury took before returning the verdict could have tainted their decision.
“The jury took an outdoor break of approximately eight minutes at John Marshall Park, adjacent to the courthouse. “Some people were in the park at the time, apparently prepared to protest issues related to January 6,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta wrote of Navarro’s complaint.
But Mehta concluded that there was ultimately no evidence that anyone “directed words or showed signs toward them.”
“Not only does the defendant fail to demonstrate bias, he has not shown that any juror was actually exposed to any improper outside influence,” Mehta added.
Peter Navarro denied any wrongdoing and insisted he was protected by executive privilege. fake images
Navarro criticized the decision.
“Just another quiet day with ‘Put Peter in Prison’, ‘Ashley Babbit was Murdered’ and ‘Free the J6 Prisoners’ signs outside the courtroom while jurors in the middle of deliberations roam freely. There is nothing to see here,” Navarro told The Post.
Navarro was found guilty in September of two counts of contempt for failing to appear for a deposition and failing to produce documents.
A little more than two years earlier, Navarro had apparently mocked the Jan. 6 committee, suggesting he wouldn’t dare contact it because he had evidence to clear Trump’s name.
“They don’t want to know anything about me. I exonerate Trump and Bannon,” he told the Daily Beast in 2021.
Weeks later, the panel called his bluff and called him. He refused based on executive privilege, in which the president, and in some cases those close to him, are authorized to withhold information from Congress.
There have been at least four former Trump administration officials who were referred to the Justice Department by the select committee for possible contempt charges.
This includes Navarro, former White House strategist Steve Bannon, former White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications Dan Scavino and former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.
Peter Navarro had devised the so-called “Green Bay Sweep” plan to make Donald Trump president for a second term despite his defeat in 2020. REUTERS
The Justice Department brought charges against Bannon and Navarro, but not Scavino and Meadows.
Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two counts of contempt and ordered to serve four months in prison and pay a $6,500 fine. He has since appealed that conviction.
Late last year, first son Hunter Biden defied a congressional subpoena for the impeachment inquiry into his father.
The younger Biden held a news conference in front of the Capitol building, but later refused to appear. His legal team demanded that the deposition be held in a public place, which House Republicans refused to do.
Republicans then moved to hold him in contempt, but reportedly suspended those plans this week amid negotiations to obtain testimony.
Navarro’s sentencing is scheduled for January 25.
Navarro could face between 30 days and a year behind bars, as well as a fine of up to $100,000 per charge.
Categories: Trending
Source: vtt.edu.vn