Trump adviser loses appeal of January 6-related contempt of Congress conviction
DC Appeals Court Upholds Navarro’s Contempt Conviction
Healfromzero.com – A federal appeals court sitting in Washington, DC, delivered a decisive blow to Peter Navarro’s efforts to reverse his felony conviction for contempt of Congress. The ruling, announced on Tuesday, came as a unanimous decision from three judges on the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals. This outcome represents another setback for Trump’s former aides who have been attempting to clear their legal records stemming from events surrounding the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Navarro’s Defense Falls Short
The court’s opinion placed significant emphasis on Navarro’s inability to demonstrate that President Trump had explicitly instructed him to ignore congressional demands. Navarro received his guilty verdict in 2023 after refusing to comply with subpoenas connected to his public assertions that he was working to prevent Congress from confirming Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential race. The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot had requested both documents in Navarro’s possession and his personal testimony, but he declined to cooperate. Although Navarro has already completed a federal prison term, he has spent years arguing before courts that Trump communicated to him that responding to the House’s requests was unnecessary. Navarro pointed to what he characterized as an official declaration of executive privilege as his justification.
The Court’s Reasoning
The DC Circuit panel, consisting of Judges Patricia Millett, Nina Pillard, and Michelle Childs, concluded that Navarro’s position lacked substance. “Dr. Navarro first asserted executive privilege unilaterally without consulting with or receiving direction from President Trump,” the opinion, authored by Millett, stated clearly. The appeals court noted that Navarro possessed no written evidence proving that Trump had instructed him during a brief three-minute telephone conversation to resist the committee’s subpoena. Additionally, both a Trump attorney and an adviser who testified before a grand jury against Navarro confirmed that the president never made a formal decision to protect him from congressional questioning.
Dr. Navarro immediately and categorically asserted executive privilege without consulting anyone … He did so before even seeing the subpoena and its cover letter that made clear the subpoena sought some information that Dr. Navarro concedes is not privileged because he had discussed it publicly
The court further observed that Navarro made his privilege claim before reviewing the subpoena itself, despite having already discussed the relevant information in his book and various interviews. “That all cuts against Dr. Navarro’s purported good-faith defense, not in favor of it,” the judges wrote.
Broader Political Context
The opinion also emphasized that both branches of government pursued accountability when Navarro faced indictment and trial. During the Biden administration, the executive branch prosecuted the case, while Congress held him in contempt. The Trump administration chose to allow the appeal to proceed through the judicial system.
As it turns out, the Political Branches are entirely in accord this time. Congress held Dr. Navarro in contempt. And the Executive both informed Dr. Navarro that his assertion of executive privilege was unjustified and exercised its exclusive authority to bring this prosecution.
All three judges on the panel received their appointments from Democratic presidents. Navarro, currently serving as a White House trade adviser, and Steve Bannon, another long-time Trump confidant, have both been pursuing efforts to overturn their convictions through the courts. Both individuals served federal prison sentences in 2024 for their refusal to comply with House subpoenas concerning January 6 matters. When Congress issued the subpoenas and the Justice Department initiated prosecutions, both Bannon and Navarro were private citizens, and Trump was between his two presidential terms. Despite Trump’s return to the presidency last year, neither man has obtained a presidential pardon, even though Trump has granted clemency to numerous January 6 defendants and other allies. The Justice Department has indicated it wants Bannon’s charges dismissed, while Navarro’s legal team has expressed opposition to such a move. Navarro’s attorney, Abhishek Kambli, released a statement on Tuesday expressing confidence in the ongoing appeal process.
The decision today from the D.C. Circuit panel was not surprising and Peter Navarro knew that it would be one step in a battle to correct decades of incorrect DC Circuit precedent.
Kambli added that Navarro plans to continue his legal fight, noting that the case has implications for senior presidential advisers across party lines who believe they can legitimately decline congressional subpoenas based on executive privilege.