On Thursday, former White House official Peter Navarro was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Capitol riot, and he was sentenced on Thursday to four months behind bars.
Navarro served as a trade adviser to Donald Trump, and he’s described the sentence as politically motivated.
Critics have questioned why Navarro has been charged and sentenced, while President Joe Biden’s son — who also defied a congressional subpoena — continues to walk free.
He was the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon previously received a four-month sentence.
Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. He served as a White House trade adviser under then-President Donald Trump.
Prosecutors took offense to the accusations of targeting Navarro. A federal prosecutor, John Crabb Jr., told the judge that the Justice Department enforces the law “without fear, favor or political influence.” He added, “This is a righteous prosecution.”
Some commentators agreed with Navarro’s characterization. Kimberly Guilfoyle, another one of Trump’s advisers, echoed Navarro’s defense on Twitter.
“What an absolute disgrace. Peter Navarro sentenced to prison for refusing to play along with the Democrats’ illegitimate sham J6 circus,” Guilfoyle tweeted Thursday. “While Hunter Biden defies a subpoena, mocks the entire process, and gets to stroll through Capitol Hill… Justice is dead.”
Navarro’s lawyers had advised him not to address the judge on Thursday, but he said he wanted to speak after hearing the judge express disappointment in him. Responding to a question about why he didn’t initially seek a lawyer’s counsel, he told the judge, “I didn’t know what to do, sir.”
The judge said Navarro should have known how to respond to a subpoena from the House committee because he received one several weeks after Bannon was charged with criminal contempt of Congress.
“I know you think it’s a political hatchet job,” the judge told Navarro. “(The House committee) had a job to do, and you made it harder. It’s really that simple.”
The judge is allowing Navarro’s defense to submit a written brief on the question of allowing him to remain free pending appeal.
Before the trial, Navarro has said he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. The judge barred him from making that argument at trial, however, finding that he didn’t show Trump had actually invoked it.
Navarro said in court before his sentencing Thursday that the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack had led him to believe that it accepted his invocation of executive privilege.
“Nobody in my position should be put in conflict between the legislative branch and the executive branch,” he told the judge.
Mehta said that asserting executive privilege is not “magic dust to avoid a duty” or “a get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Bannon also made executive-privilege arguments.
He was convicted of two counts of contempt, but he remains free pending appeal.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.