Ex-Trump Official Peter Navarro Convicted of Contempt of Congress
Peter Navarro, former President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress on Thursday after refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House Jan. 6th Committee.
“The defendant chose allegiance to former President Trump over compliance with the subpoena. That is contempt. That is a crime,” federal prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi told the 12 jurors Thursday as she made her closing argument in the case.
Navarro faces up to one year in jail for each count and a minimum of 30 days behind bars for each count, noted Reuters. Navarro’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 12, 2024.
Navarro was a leading figure in the final days of the Trump administration working to overturn the 2020 presidential election, efforts he detailed publicly while being interviewed by MSNBC’s Ari Melber.
The House Jan. 6th Committee “sought to interview Navarro about a plan devised by him and other Trump allies, dubbed the “Green Bay Sweep,” to delay Congress from certifying Democratic President Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. The committee concluded its work last year without interviewing Navarro,” added Reuters.
Melber pushed Navarro on how he planned to overturn the 2020 election in January of 2022. Navarro replied, “The plan was simply this: We had over 100 congressmen and senators on Capitol Hill ready to implement the sweep. The sweep was simply that. We were gonna challenge the results of the election in the six battleground states. They were Michigan, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Nevada.” Going into detail, Navarro added:
And basically, these were the places where we believed that if the votes were sent back those battleground states and looked at again, that there would be enough concern amongst the legislatures that most or all of those states would decertify the election.
That would throw the election to the House of Representatives. And I would say to you here, Ari, that all of this, again, was in the lanes, legally. It was prescribed by the Constitution. There is a provision to go – rather than through the Electoral College – to the House of Representatives. And all this required was peace and calm on Capitol Hill, and at 1 pm., Ted Cruz, Senator Ted Cruz and [Paul] Gosar, a representative started the Green Bay Sweep beautifully, challenging the results of Arizona.
Melber quickly replied, “Do you realize you are describing a coup?”
Navarro long maintained he would not comply with the House subpoena as he was protecting former President Donald Trump and their private conversations.
Former Trump White House advisor Steve Bannon was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress as well, he is currently appealing the verdict.
This is a developing story and has been updated.
