A federal appeals court upheld Peter Navarro’s contempt of Congress convictions.
Why it matters: The ruling reinforces Congress’s subpoena power in oversight fights and narrows a privilege defense for senior White House aides. It also leaves intact a criminal result tied to the House Jan. 6 probe.
- The D.C. Circuit unanimously rejected Navarro’s claim that executive privilege excused his refusal to comply.
- The case stems from a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena issued in February 2022 for documents and testimony.
- The Justice Department indicted Navarro on June 3, 2022 on two contempt of Congress counts in federal court in Washington, D.C.
- AP reported Navarro already served a four-month prison sentence and is again serving as a White House trade counselor in Trump’s second term.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on July 21 upheld Peter Navarro’s contempt-of-Congress convictions, agreeing that his executive-privilege argument did not excuse his refusal to comply with a House Jan. 6 committee subpoena. In other words, the panel affirmed the convictions and rejected the legal theory Navarro used to avoid producing documents and appearing for a deposition.
Judge Patricia Millett wrote: “In short, Dr. Navarro has acknowledged that even if executive privilege had been invoked, that would not have excused his categorical failure to comply with the Select Committee’s subpoena.”
The subpoena came from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol and required Navarro to produce documents and sit for a deposition in early 2022. The Justice Department later indicted him on June 3, 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Justice Department indictment
Bloomberg Law reported on July 9 that Navarro was continuing the appeal even after the Justice Department had already dropped the case nearly a year earlier, underscoring the unusual procedural path behind the ruling. Bloomberg Law report
AP reported Navarro had already served a four-month prison sentence and was serving as a White House trade counselor again in President Donald Trump’s second term. AP report
By the numbers
- 2 - contempt of Congress counts Navarro was indicted on
- 4 months - prison sentence AP reported Navarro had already served
- July 21 - date the D.C. Circuit issued its ruling