U.S. District Judge Ahmit Mehta sentences Peter Navarro, a former trade adviser in Donald Trump’s administration, to a four month prison sentence for his defiance of a congressional subpoena issued by the House Jan. 6 select committee. Navarro worked with former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who has also been sentenced to four months in prison for defying a subpoena issued by the committee, to devise a strategy to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election. Here are the latest legal developments surrounding the former president running for re-election in 2024.
Jan. 6 election interference
Peter Navarro sentenced to four months in prison for defying Congressional subpoena
Key players: Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon
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On Thursday, Mehta handed Navarro a four-month prison sentence and a fine of $9,500 after he was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena issued by the House Jan. 6 select committee, the Guardian reported.
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During his trial, Navarro said he believed executive privilege shielded him from having to cooperate with the committee, but he failed to produce evidence that Trump had extended that privilege to him.
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“The words executive privilege are not magical incantations,” Mehta said during the sentencing hearing.
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Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence Navarro to six months in prison.
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Bannon also received a four-month prison sentence on the same contempt of Congress charges, but his lawyers are appealing that decision.
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Navarro worked with Bannon on a plan they called “the Green Bay sweep” that sought to use Republican lawmakers to contest ballots in the 2020 election in order to overturn Trump’s defeat in key swing states.
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Mehta has yet to decide whether Navarro must begin serving his sentence immediately or whether it can be delayed pending an appeal by his lawyers.
Why it matters: Prison sentences for contempt of Congress are rare, but the cases against Bannon and Navarro underscore the larger legal peril facing Trump and those who helped him devise a plot to overturn the 2020 election.
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Wednesday, January 24
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Judge Tanya Chutkan announces that a trial she will oversee for Jan. 6 defendant Anthony Mastanduno will begin on April 2, making it clear that former President Donald Trump’s trial on election interference charges will be pushed back. Here are the latest court developments for the former White House occupant seeking reelection in 2024.
Jan. 6 election interference
Chutkan scheduling decision indicates Trump’s trial will be delayed
Key players: Jan. 6 defendant Anthony Mastanduno, U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan, United States Supreme Court
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In a court docket filing issued Wednesday, Chutkan announced she had scheduled a trial for Mastanduno to begin on April 2, a clear indication that Trump’s trial, which was supposed to begin on March 4, would indeed be delayed.
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Chutkan had already indicated that the trial would be delayed. Last week, she issued an order preventing special counsel Jack Smith from filing motions in the case without permission, Politico reported, while Trump pursues his appeals of Chutkan’s ruling that presidential immunity claims do not protect him from being prosecuted for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election.
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The U.S. Court of Appeals is expected to rule soon on the matter, but if that decision goes against him, Trump is expected to take his appeal to the Supreme Court.
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Wednesday’s announcement made it likely that the earliest Trump’s federal election interference trial could begin would be mid-April.
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Mastanduno is charged with “civil disorder and assaulting, resisting, or impeding certain officers using a dangerous weapon, both felony offenses,” according to the Department of Justice.
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He is one of 1,265 people who have been arrested and charged for their…
Read More: Judge sentences Navarro to 4 months in prison for contempt of Congress