A former adviser to the Trump White House, Peter Navarro, was sentenced by a federal judge on Thursday to serve a four-month prison term for contempt of Congress. This came after Navarro refused to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta also imposed a $9,500 fine on Navarro.
Federal prosecutors, in a sentencing memo dated Jan. 19, argued that Navarro, aged 74, prioritized his loyalty to former President Donald Trump over respect for the rule of law, displaying a “sustained, deliberate contempt” that warrants a sentence at the higher end of federal guidelines. Navarro was found guilty by a 12-person jury in September on two counts of contempt of Congress: the first for withholding documents and the second for failing to attend a deposition.
Judge Mehta remarked during the sentencing, “This was a significant effort by Congress to investigate a grievous day in American history … and this sentence should reflect that. They had a duty to fulfill, and you made it more challenging, plain and simple.”
