Ex-Trump adviser Navarro pleads not guilty to contempt of Congress charges

By Sarah N. Lynch

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Former Republican President Donald Trump’s adviser Peter Navarro pleaded not responsible on Friday to 2 misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, after he refused to offer testimony or paperwork to the U.S. Home of Representatives Committee investigating the January 2021 assault on the Capitol.

Navarro, who appeared within the U.S. District Court docket for the District of Columbia for his arraignment on Friday, wrote a guide after he left the White Home during which he talked a couple of plan to delay Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory referred to as “Inexperienced Bay Sweep,” in accordance with the indictment.

He described the plan because the “final, finest probability to grab a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit,” the indictment says.

His guide will formally be launched in September, considered one of his attorneys stated on Friday.

U.S. District Decide Amit Mehta, who can be presiding over the upcoming high-profile trial this fall of members of the far-right Oath Keepers group going through seditious conspiracy costs, stated on Friday that his schedule is a “mess” and the earliest date he may set for Navarro’s trial is Nov. 17.

The U.S. Home Choose Committee, which held its third public listening to on Thursday afternoon to disclose a few of the findings from its investigation, subpoenaed Navarro in February searching for each paperwork and testimony.

Nonetheless, he failed to look for his deposition or talk in any method with the panel after receiving the subpoena, the indictment towards him alleges.

He later instructed the committee he was unable to adjust to its calls for, saying Trump had invoked govt privilege, a authorized doctrine that shields sure White Home communications from disclosure, and that this privilege “will not be mine to waive.”

Navarro, a longtime China hawk who suggested Trump on commerce points and in addition served on the COVID-19 activity power, had been representing himself since he was criminally charged.

However after Friday’s listening to, he instructed reporters exterior the courthouse that “being put in leg irons and having individuals wanting to place me in jail” had modified his view about needing authorized illustration.

John Rowley, considered one of his new attorneys, instructed reporters they intend to “aggressively defend him” within the case.

Previous to being indicted, Navarro filed a civil lawsuit towards the committee, arguing that the case towards him stemmed from collusion between the Justice Division, Congress and the Biden White Home.

Rowley stated for now that they had moved to dismiss the civil case, however they may refile it at a future date.

Since his arrest, which occurred whereas he was boarding a aircraft at a close-by airport, Navarro has accused the Justice Division of mistreatment, saying he was positioned in leg irons, denied entry to meals or water, and was forbidden from calling an legal professional.

Prosecutors have denied he was mistreated in any method.

Rowley instructed reporters they intend to additional probe the circumstances surrounding their shopper’s arrest, and why he was handled like a harmful prison over mere “course of crimes.”

“We have by no means seen something as outrageous as what occurred to Mr. Navarro,” he stated.

(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; Modifying by Chizu Nomiyama and Daniel Wallis)