Another Trump Appointee Seeks Help From Courts In Beating 'Witch Hunt Commission'

By Roberta Elliot | Saturday, 20 August 2022 08:30 PM
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Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro is asking the federal court to drop a contempt of Congress indictment against him for opposing a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.

Navarro repeated his previous claims that he was caught in a power struggle between the legislative and executive branches of government due to former President Donald Trump's claim of executive privilege. He also contended that prosecuting him over the subpoena "violates the doctrine of Separation of Powers and is unconstitutional."

"Dr. Navarro has been unfairly caught in a dispute between the executive and legislative branches of our government and placed on the horns of a dilemma: follow the explicit instructions from the President he served as a senior advisor for four years, or risk being held in Contempt of Congress and criminally prosecuted by the Department of Justice," he declared in a motion to dismiss the indictment.

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He filed the motion to overlook in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia late Wednesday. In addition to outlining his executive privilege concerns, Navarro also slammed the Justice Department's case handling. His motion included an edited section titled, "The Government’s Presentation To The Grand Jury Underscores The Unusual Way the Department Has Approached this Prosecution."

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Navarro has publicly slammed the prosecution of the case and accused the government of having "animus" toward him.

"The Government’s refusal to allow Dr. Navarro to self-report to court after being charged with two non-violent misdemeanors is indeed unusual and demonstrates a selective animus towards him by the Government officials responsible for the decisions made in this case," he argued in the motion to dismiss.

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In February, Navarro was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 panel for testimony and records relevant to its inquiry but denied to comply, mentioning executive privilege. Congress voted to hold him in contempt in April. In June, he was detained by federal authorities in a dramatic scene at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport during a trip to Nashville and charged in a contempt case.

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Navarro pleaded not guilty in June to the two misdemeanor charges against him for contempt of Congress. Prosecutors claim that he also left a plea agreement in the case soon after he was indicted.

Last month, a jury found Steve Bannon, another Trump ally, guilty of contempt of Congress charges levied against him for failing to comply with a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Bannon claimed that Trump's assertion of executive privilege precluded him from cooperating with the panel. Unlike Navarro, Bannon was not part of the Trump administration during the period in question.

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