World

Former Trump adviser Navarro sentenced to four months in prison

Peter Navarro, Harvard-educated economist, was found guilty of 2 counts of contempt of Congress by federal jury

By AFP

January 26, 2024

Peter Navarro (L), a former advisor to former US President Donald Trump, departs the E Barrett Prettyman Courthouse on January 25, 2024 in Washington, DC. — AFP

WASHINGTON: Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser to former president Donald Trump, was sentenced to four months in prison on Thursday for refusing to testify before the congressional panel that investigated the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol.

Navarro, 74, a Harvard-educated economist, was found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress by a federal jury in Washington in September after a two-day trial.

US District Judge Amit Mehta sentenced him to four months in prison -- two months less than prosecutors had requested -- and ordered him to pay a fine of $9,500.

“You are not a victim,” The Washington Post quoted Mehta as saying at Navarro´s sentencing hearing. “You are not the object of a political prosecution. These are circumstances of your own making.”

Navarro had refused to appear for a deposition before the House of Representatives committee that investigated the January 6 attack on Congress by Trump supporters and declined to supply documents to the panel.