Federal appeals court upholds Peter Navarro’s convictions for defying Jan 6 committee subpoena

WASHINGTON, DC: A federal appeals court on Tuesday, July 21, upheld former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's convictions for defying a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.

A unanimous three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Navarro's argument that President Trump had shielded him from the subpoena through executive privilege.

A yearslong legal fight rooted in Jan. 6

"In short, Dr Navarro has acknowledged that even if executive privilege had been invoked, that would not have excused his categorical failure to comply with the Select Committee's subpoena," DC Circuit Judge Patricia Millett wrote in the ruling.

Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser during Trump's first term and holds a similar role in his second, was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee over his public comments, including in a 2021 book, describing a strategy to delay Congress's certification of the 2020 election results.

The committee also cited a report Navarro had posted on his website repeating election fraud claims that state and local officials had already discredited. Navarro refused to testify or turn over documents, arguing Trump had invoked executive privilege to keep the material confidential.

Navarro couldn’t prove Trump had shielded him from the subpoena’s requirements by invoking executive privilege, according to the unanimous ruling by a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Navarro already has served a four-month prison sentence for his contempt of Congress conviction. He was a White House trade adviser during Trump’s first term in office and is serving in a similar role during the Republican’s second term.

Appeal rejected, next stop likely the Supreme Court

In a book published in 2021, Navarro took credit for a plan to delay the congressional certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s victory over Trump in the 2020 presidential election. Ultimately, the mob’s attack on the Capitol interrupted the joint session of Congress for certifying the Electoral College results.

Navarro has maintained that he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. But the courts, including the DC Circuit panel, concluded that Navarro couldn’t prove Trump had actually invoked it.

Abhishek Kambli, an attorney for Navarro, suggested that they aren’t giving up on their appeal. Kambli described the panel’s decision as “one step in a battle to correct decades of incorrect (DC Circuit) precedent.”

Navarro’s appeal also was heard by Judges Cornelia Pillard and J Michelle Childs. Millett and Pillard were nominated to the court by President Barack Obama, a Democrat. Childs was nominated by Biden. Navarro was sentenced by District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama nominee.

Navarro is one of two close Trump allies to face criminal consequences tied to the Jan. 6 investigation; former Trump adviser Steve Bannon was also convicted of contempt before the Justice Department, under the current administration, moved to drop his case. Navarro is expected to appeal Tuesday's ruling to the Supreme Court.