Trump White House official Peter Navarro convicted of contempt of Congress
T
rump White House official Peter Navarro has been convicted of contempt of Congress after he was accused of refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the US Capitol riot in Washington DC.
The verdict got here after a brief trial for Navarro, who served as a White House commerce adviser below Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud within the 2020 election he misplaced.
Navarro was the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress costs after former White House adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted of two counts and was sentenced to 4 months behind bars, although he has been free pending attraction.
Prosecutors mentioned Navarro acted as if he have been “above the law” when he defied a subpoena for paperwork and a deposition from the House January 6 committee.
He was charged with two misdemeanour counts of contempt of Congress, each punishable by as much as a 12 months behind bars.
A defence lawyer argued Navarro didn’t ignore the congressional subpoena however as a substitute advised committee staffers to contact Mr Trump about what materials is likely to be lined by government privilege, one thing they didn’t do.
US District Judge Amit Mehta dominated Navarro’s government privilege argument was not a defence towards the costs, discovering that Navarro had not proven proof Mr Trump invoked it.
Prosecutors mentioned that a lot of the fabric the committee sought was already publicly accessible and that Navarro ought to have handed over what he might and flagged any questions or paperwork believed to be protected below government privilege.
Mr Trump faces a federal indictment in Washington DC, and a state indictment in Georgia over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden, a Democrat. He has denied wrongdoing and has mentioned he was performing inside the legislation.
The House January 6 committee completed its work in January, after a last report that mentioned Mr Trump criminally engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the lawful outcomes of the 2020 election and did not act to cease a mob of his supporters from attacking the Capitol.