Former Trump aide Peter Navarro faces sentencing after contempt of Congress conviction

Peter Navarro, a former White House aide to former President Donald Trump, is set to be sentenced on Thursday for not complying with a subpoena issued by the January 6th House Select Committee.

According to NBC News, the charge of criminal contempt of Congress carries a minimum of one month in prison. Navarro was convicted in September on two counts.

Federal prosecutors are seeking six months in federal prison for Navarro. They say he, "like the rioters at the Capitol, put politics, not country, first, and stonewalled Congress’s investigation," and that Navarro "chose allegiance to former President Donald Trump over the rule of law."

Navarro’s lawyer has asked that the sentence imposed by immediately stayed due to "novel issues" that have been presented in the case, including Navarro’s claim that Trump had invoked executive privilege.

A sentencing memo filed earlier in the month stated that Navarro’s claim of executive privilege is a "bad-faith strategy of defiance and contempt behind baseless, unfounded invocations of executive privilege and immunity that could not and would never apply to his situation."

"At no time did the Defendant provide the Committee with any evidence supporting his assertion that the former President had invoked executive privilege over the information the Committee’s subpoena sought from the Defendant."

The sentencing memo added, "Like Stephen Bannon before him, throughout the pendency of this case, the Defendant has exploited his notoriety — through courthouse press conferences, his books, and through podcasts — to display to the public the reason for his failure to comply with the Committee’s subpoena: a disregard for government processes and the law, and in particular, the work of the Committee."

War Room host Steve Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison on a contempt of Congress charge in October 2022, but has been appealing the case and has yet to serve time.

Congress recently began procedures to hold Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress after defying a Congressional subpoena. After refusing to appear on December 13 for a deposition, instead issuing a speech on the Capitol lawn, Hunter Biden later agreed to sit for a deposition.