Former Trump administration official Peter Navarro on Thursday was sentenced to four months in jail for contempt of Congress after he declined to comply with a subpoena related to the congressional investigation into the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, reports said.
In September, the House Select Committee investigating the attack held Navarro in contempt of Congress for disobeying a subpoena.
Each charge carries a mandatory minimum prison term of one month; nevertheless, the prosecutors recommended to US District Judge Amit Mehta that a sentence of six months for each count be served simultaneously and a fine of $200,000 be imposed.
Last week, they informed the judge that a one-month sentence for each of the two charges “does not adequately address, penalize, and discourage the defendant’s criminal acts,” asserting that Navarro’s refusal to comply with the subpoenas was similar to the behavior of certain individuals involved in the riot.
“The defendant, like the rioters at the Capitol, put politics, not country, first and stonewalled Congress’s investigation,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law.”
In 2022, Steve Bannon, a former adviser to Trump, was found guilty of two counts of contempt and subsequently received a prison sentence of four months. The case involving Bannon is currently under appeal.
Navarro’s conviction and sentence are only likely to add more fuel to claims by Republicans that President Joe Biden and his Democratic Party have weaponized the DOJ to go after its political opponents.
It will be interesting to see what happens if the GOP-controlled House decides to hold Hunter Biden, the president’s son, in contempt for his refusal to honor a subpoena sent to him in December compelling his testimony.
BREAKING: Peter Navarro has been sentenced to 4 months in prison for defying a subpoena from the sham J6 Committee. pic.twitter.com/PgeUjtGL0H
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 25, 2024
Navarro’s legal team is seeking a maximum probation sentence of six months for each charge. They have also asked Judge Mehta to temporarily suspend the sentence while they appeal the conviction.
