Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro spoke at the RNC just hours after his release from prison. His speech met a jubilant response from the audience, who viewed him as a hero.
Navarro told the crowd that he chose to go to prison rather than betray the former president. His speech further fueled allegations of a witchhunt leveled against the Biden administration.
The Peter Navarro Sentence
In September 2023, Peter Navarro was found guilty of contempt of Congress. In February 2022, Congress issued a subpoena to him, which is a document inviting him to appear before the legislators. However, Peter Navarro defied the order.
He also flouted a request by Congress seeking that he turn over documents of official communications between himself and former President Trump.
Congress Investigated Peter Navarro’s Role in the January 6 Capitol Invasion
Congress had set up a committee to investigate the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by thousands of Donald Trump supporters. The committee was interrogating key staff of the Trump administration to determine their role in what many have called an “insurrection.”
The committee was very interested in Navarro, who led the Trump administration’s Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy.
Peter Navarro Was Implicated By His Memoir
With hundreds of Trump admin staff to investigate, what could have attracted the legislators to Peter Navarro? It was a biography Navarro wrote and published shortly after rounding off his service at the White House.
According to the memoir, Navarro played a crucial role in delaying the certification of the 2020 election results. President Trump had insisted that the election was rigged in President Biden’s favor.
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What Was in Navarro’s Memoir?
In his memoir, In Trump Time: My Journal of America’s Plague Year, Navarro disclosed that a team was set up to reverse the results of the election in certain states that Biden had won. They tagged their strategies as the “Green Bay Sweep.”
According to a section of the book, Navarro called the efforts a “last, best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrat’s jaws of deceit.”
Peter Navarro’s Reasons for Violating the Supboena
In his defense, Peter Navarro stated that he defied the subpoena because he was immune from testifying before the committee. He claimed to enjoy a level of executive privilege through President Trump.
The privilege he referred to was a legal principle that shielded some White House communications from the public. However, when the case came before the court, a judge ruled that the privilege didn’t apply in that particular case.
Peter Navarro’s Trial
In 2023, a court found Navarro guilty of contempt of Congress. Prosecutors simply had to prove that he received the subpoena and intentionally decided not to honor it.
According to the closing arguments of Elizabeth Aloi, an Assistant U.S. Attorney, “When a person intentionally and deliberately chooses to defy a congressional subpoena, that’s a crime.” On the other hand, Navarro’s attorneys tried to argue that their client didn’t have the documents the committee requested.
Peter Navarro’s Sentence
The court sentenced Peter Navarro after the federal jury deliberated for close to four hours. The verdict confined him to federal prison for four months and mandated he pay a fine of $9,500.
Navarro had asked the court to keep him free while he pursued the appeal. His lawyers had made the case insisting that he was neither a flight risk nor a threat to the public. But the court declined his request.
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The Second Conviction of a Trump Administration Staff
Navarro’s sentence wasn’t the first one of the January 6 investigation. Before this, Steve Bannon, a Trump admin official and former campaign strategist, had also been convicted of contempt.
Bannon was also to serve four months in prison for the same offense—defying a congressional committee’s subpoena. However, unlike Navarro, the court allowed Bannon to stay out of jail while he appealed his sentence.
The Committee’s Findings
After 18 months of a drama-filled investigation, 1000 witness interviews, and 10 hearings, the committee announced its findings to Americans.
The panel declared that Trump had initiated and supervised a “multi-part conspiracy” to reverse his defeat in the 2020 presidential elections. They also found that he made no efforts to stop his supporters from invading the Capitol. Trump has repeatedly denied these claims.
Navarro’s Release From Prison
Peter Navarro had served his time at a Miami prison and enjoyed freedom on the morning of July 17, 2024. As soon as he came out of jail, he boarded a flight to Milwaukee to catch up with the Republican National Convention.
In his convention speech, which lasted for more than 10 minutes, Navarro accused the government of withhunting Donald Trump and his supporters.
Navarro Boasted About His Loyalty
In his speech, he told attendees of his refusal to sell out. “The J6 committee demanded that I betray Donald John Trump to save my own skin,” he stated before declaring triumphantly that he “refused.”
“I went to prison, so you won’t have to,” the proud Navarro told the crowd. Thereafter, he received an ecstatic reception and applause from the attendees as he shared an emotional hug with his fiancee on stage.
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