Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro sentenced to 4 months in jail for defying congressional subpoena

 Former Trump White House Advisor, Peter Navarro was sentenced on Thursday, January 25, to four months in jail for contempt of Congress after defying a subpoena related to the congressional investigation into the January 6, 2021, US Capitol attack.

Navarro was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress in September for not complying with a subpoena from the House select committee that investigated the attack.

The judge overseeing Navarro’s case said today that the former Trump adviser’s sentence is of his “own making” as he tore into Navarro for claiming that his prosecution was politically motivated.

“I guess what bothers me ultimately is that here we are after a year and a half plus and you still want to suggest to me that this is a political prosecution. You want me to believe this is a political prosecution,” US District Judge Amit Mehta said during the sentencing hearing, raising his voice. 

“When the evidence is completely to the contrary. You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution. These are the circumstances of your own making.” the judge added

Judge Mehta also fined Navarro $9,500.

Navarro quickly appealed the case on Thursday to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals. His attorneys say they plan to file an appeal to raise issues related to his claim that he didn’t comply with the subpoena because Trump had invoked executive privilege.

Each count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of one month in prison, but prosecutors had asked Mehta to sentence Navarro to six months for each count running concurrently and fine him $200,000.

Prosecutors told the judge last week that a sentence of one month apiece for the two counts “is insufficient to account for, punish, and deter the Defendant’s criminal offenses,” arguing that Navarro’s decision to not comply with the subpoenas was akin to the conduct of some of the people who participated 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.”

Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was also convicted in 2022 on two contempt counts and later sentenced to four months in prison. Bannon’s case is currently on appeal.

Navarro’s attorneys are seeking a sentence of no more than six months of probation for each count, and they asked Mehta last week to pause the sentence he imposes as they appeal the conviction.