Former White House Trade Advisor Peter Navarro, aged 74, has been sentenced to four months in prison on two counts of contempt of Congress. The charges stem from his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued by the United States House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol. The committee sought Navarro’s testimony and the production of documents related to the events surrounding the attack.
The verdict was delivered by a jury on September 7, 2023, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Navarro was found guilty on one count of contempt for failing to appear for a deposition and another count for not producing documents as required by the Congressional subpoena.
U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves of the District of Columbia and FBI Assistant Director in Charge David Sundberg announced the sentencing. In addition to the four-month prison term, the presiding judge, Honorable Amit P. Mehta, ordered Navarro to pay a fine of $9,500.
The evidence presented during the trial indicated that Navarro was subpoenaed by the Select Committee on February 9, 2022. The subpoena specified dates for his appearance and document production on February 23, 2022, and a deposition on March 2, 2022. Navarro refused to comply with either request. The Select Committee had issued the subpoena based on Navarro’s own public statements, suggesting he possessed information relevant to the investigation into the Capitol attack.
Navarro, who served as an advisor to the former President on trade and manufacturing policies, has been a private citizen since leaving the White House in 2021. He was indicted on June 2, 2022. The FBI’s Washington Field Office conducted the investigation, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Elizabeth Aloi and John Crabb Jr., with support from Paralegal Specialist Sonalika Chaturvedi from the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.
