Thursday, a jury convicted former White House economic adviser Peter Navarro of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress.

The jury in Washington, DC, determined that Navarro violated the subpoena issued by the House January 6 Committee when he refused to testify before the committee and produce documents, as Breitbart News reported.

Congress held Navarro and former White House communications aide Dan Scavino in contempt last year.

Case Details

After nearly five hours of deliberation, the jury found Navarro guilty on two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. Amit Mehta, United States District Judge, set Navarro's sentencing for January 12, 2024.

Both counts bear a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a maximum fine of $100,000.

“Peter Navarro made a choice. He chose not to comply with the congressional subpoena. Our government only works when people play by the rules,” federal prosecutors told the jurors during closing arguments Thursday morning. 

Stanley Woodward, Navarro's attorney, argued that the government failed to satisfy its high burden of proof in the criminal case, arguing that her client couldn't be convicted in this instance.

“For the government to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt it also has to prove that Dr. Navarro’s failure to comply with the subpoena was not the result of accident, mistake or inadvertence,” Woodward said. 

“This case is about those three words,” Navarro added, emphasizing “accident, mistake, or inadvertence.”

“Do we know his failure to comply — beyond reasonable doubt — was not [an] accident, inadvertence or mistake? Why didn’t the government present evidence about where he was, or what he was doing?” Woodward said. “Something stinks.”

A similar failure to comply with subpoenas issued by the January 6 Committee resulted in the conviction of former Trump strategist Steve Bannon for two counts of criminal contempt of Congress in the previous year.

Previous Contempt Charge

According to Breitbart News' previous report, Navarro has been candid in interviews about the plan among Trump loyalists to use a peaceful protest at the Capitol to put pressure on Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence to reject the certification of Electoral College votes from states where the results were being contested by the Trump campaign.

Navarro countered the claims of the January 6 committee by saying that the violence disrupted the plan and doomed it to fail.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has also been recommended for prosecution by the Department of Justice. The former Trump staffer was just recently charged in connection with the Georgia case.