After tense deliberations about immunity and executive privilege, a federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia handed former White House adviser Peter Navarro a small victory Friday by delaying next week’s scheduled trial in his defiance of the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena.
But former President Donald Trump was also denied a bid by the judge, Amit Mehta, to thwart Navarro’s prosecution for refusing to cooperate with the select committee investigating the Capitol riot. The trial had been scheduled to begin on Monday, and Mehta did not set a new date; rather, he set a briefing schedule on the privilege question that will extend through the end of March.
COURT REJECTS PETER NAVARRO’S BID TO DISMISS JAN. 6 CONTEMPT CHARGES
Ahead of the judge’s decision, an attorney for Trump issued a letter on Jan. 23 backing a move by Navarro to ignore a subpoena from the committee by positing a blanket claim of executive privilege. In a separate order from the bench in the pretrial hearing, Mehta rejected Trump’s effort, saying the letter had no bearing on the case.
Mehta said the letter did not indicate Trump directed Navarro to invoke executive privilege with respect to a subpoena sent by the committee, according to Bloomberg.
“There is no evidence before me that the president invoked privilege,” said Mehta, saying Navarro has a burden to come forward with evidence.
The former president has asserted his communications with Navarro during his four years in office were shielded by executive privilege. In the Jan. 23 letter, his lawyers wrote Navarro “had an obligation to assert executive privilege” when responding to the committee’s subpoena.
Last week, Mehta ruled that Navarro failed to provide sufficient evidence to back his claim that Trump asserted such privilege. Additionally, Navarro failed to show “a sworn affidavit nor testimony from him or the former President.”
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Navarro faces two counts of contempt due to his refusal to turn in documents requested of him and provide testimony to the committee, which dissolved earlier this year after Republicans gained control of the House of Representatives.
If convicted, Navarro faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.
