Former adviser to ex-US President Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, has been convicted in a federal court in Washington of contempt of Congress. According to US media, the jury found the 74-year-old guilty of refusing to provide documents and testify before a House investigative committee into the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol. The sentence will only be announced at a later date. He faces between 30 days and a year in prison on both counts.
“Peter Navarro has made a decision”, quoted the Washington Post from the closing argument by prosecutor Elizabeth Aloi. “He chose not to comply with a congressional subpoena. Our government only works when people follow the rules. And it only works if they are held accountable when they don’t.” Navarro had argued that he failed to comply with the subpoena because Trump instructed him to say he was exempt from it under executive privilege.
The investigative committee examined the events of January 6, 2021: On that day, Trump’s supporters violently stormed the Parliament building in Washington, where Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election was about to be confirmed.
Navarro is the second Trump adviser convicted of failing to cooperate with the committee. Trump’s former chief strategist, Steve Bannon, was sentenced to four months in prison last fall for contempt of Congress, but appealed the decision and remains at large pending the outcome. Navarro also announced that he would take action against the decision.