Peter Navarro's contempt trial — what you need to know

07 September 2023

While former President Donald Trump faces four criminal indictments along with civil lawsuits, his former economic adviser,

Peter Navarro, is battling legal problems of his own.

Navarro, a major promoter of Trump's Big Lie, has been on trial for contempt of Congress after openly defying a subpoena from the January 6 Select Committee in 2022. The defense and prosecutors rested their cases on Wednesday, September 6 and are awaiting a verdict from jurors.

Legal reporter Ella Lee, in a listicle published by The Hill on September 6, lays out five takeaways from the trial.

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They are: (1) "a restless Navarro," (2) "executive privilege takes center stage," (3) "DOJ: Navarro acted 'above the law'," (4) the "defense disputes Navarro 'willfully' failed to comply," and (5) "The January 6 problem."

During the trial, Navarro's defense argued that because Trump had enjoyed executive privilege as president, Navarro was not allowed to comply with the January 6 Select Committee's subpoena. But Judge Amit Mehta disagreed, telling the court, "There was no formal invocation of executive privilege by (Trump) after personal consideration nor authorization to Mr. Navarro to invoke privilege on his behalf."

That ruling, Lee writes, was "a major blow" to Navarro's defense.

"The Justice Department began its opening arguments by referencing the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol," Lee notes. "Crabb, the assistant U.S. attorney, noted the 'cherished tradition' of peaceful transitions of power he said were nearly broken by a 'violent mob' who attempted to stop Congress' certification of the 2020 election results."

Lee adds, "In the attack's aftermath, the House established a select committee to investigate the attack, a panel primarily comprising Democrats. Prosecutors attempted to show the jury of nine men and five women that Navarro hindered the committee's work by refusing to comply with its subpoena."

Read Ella Lee's full listicle for The Hill at this link.

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