FORMER TRUMP TRADE ADVISER PLEADS NOT GUILTY
Navarro charged with two counts of criminal contempt
Former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty Friday to two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
The plea came at a brief hearing in federal district court in Washington, where Navarro appeared with his new lawyers, John P. Rowley III and John S. Irving IV, and took a less combative posture than he had immediately after his arrest. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta scheduled his trial for Nov. 17.
Navarro, 72, faces up to one year in prison if convicted of the two contempt counts, one involving his refusal to appear for a deposition and another involving his refusal to produce documents to the committee in response to a subpoena.
Outside the court, Navarro’s defense attorney questioned the appropriateness of Navarro’s arrest, but said the legal team would take that matter up “at the appropriate time.” Navarro alleges he was in contact with the FBI and could have turned himself in, but that agents improperly pulled him off a jetway at Reagan National Airport and put him in handcuffs and leg chains.
“I’m telling you as a former federal prosecutor, for a misdemeanor charge in a white collar case involving what is essentially a process crime, handcuffs and leg irons are not the order of the day,” Rowley said, adding that the arrest and rapid announcement of charges were “obviously done for the purpose of humiliating Mr. Navarro.”
After an initial court appearance on June 3, Navarro had attacked prosecutors and the FBI, likening the government’s conduct to that of “Stalinist Russia, the Chinese Communist Party” and “terrorism.” The FBI said at the time it could not confirm the manner of Navarro’s arrest; a spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a message Friday.
Navarro — who has long ties to San Diego, including unsuccessful campaigns for mayor, City Council, county Board of Supervisors and Congress — is one of two former Trump aides to face criminal charges after ignoring committee subpoenas for testimony and documents from the Jan. 6 committee. The other, former chief White House strategist Stephen Bannon, is set to face trial July 18 after a judge on Wednesday refused to dismiss his indictment.
After announcing Navarro’s indictment, the Justice Department said it would not pursue charges against two other Trump aides, former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and communications chief Daniel Scavino Jr., who the House had similarly referred for prosecution for rebuffing the committee.
The House investigative panel issued a subpoena to Navarro on Feb. 9, seeking information about his actions to develop a strategy to delay or overturn certification of the 2020 election.
In a letter accompanying the subpoena, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., chairman of the select committee, cited news reports that the former Trump trade and manufacturing policy adviser “worked with Steve Bannon and others to develop and implement a plan to delay Congress’s certification of, and ultimately change the outcome of the 2020 presidential election.”
The letter also cited a recent book by Navarro, “In Trump Time,” in which he detailed a plan called “The Green Bay Sweep.” He described the plan as the “last best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit.”
Navarro’s team asked for a trial date in January or later, noting that the he would be promoting a different, forthcoming book through the end of the year. The book, Irving said, “is important to him in terms of income and what not. It’s not a trivial thing.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Vaughn objected that because the judge’s schedule is packed with Jan. 6 Capitol riot cases, picking a date in 2023 could mean the trial would slip to April.
Mehta agreed. “I don’t think it’s in the public interest to wait until April. It’s got complicated legal issues, but as far as trying it, it is not going to take that much time,” he said.