Peter Navarro, Ex-White House Official, To Stand Trial on Contempt of Congress Charges

Former Donald Trump aide Peter Navarro is the latest former Trump White House official to face jail time as he will go on trial for contempt of Congress on January 6. The Trump official refused to cooperate with the bipartisan House Select Committee on January 6, refusing to appear for a deposition.

According to the Associated Press, US District Judge Amit Mehta has set the trial date for Navarro on September 5 during a hearing on Tuesday. Navarro's attorneys declined to comment about the decision.

This would be the second time a former Trump aide would be facing criminal charges. The first one was former White House adviser Steve Bannon, who was also charged with contempt of Congress before being charged on two counts. He was sentenced to four months behind bars but is still free as his attorneys are still appealing the case.

Bannon was previously pardoned by Trump in a fraud case regarding the "We Build the Wall" scam where he and several associates supposedly defrauded Trump supporters into a project to fund the Trump border wall. Allegedly, the money instead went to their pockets. However, Trump is not the president anymore which means Bannon may really be facing jail time should his appeal fail.

Donald Trump Tried To Intervene in Peter Navarro's January 6 Case

Navarro failed to appear before the House January 6 Committee for a deposition last year, leading to the charge. He was then charged with contempt of Congress again for failing to produce documents the committee requested. He reportedly pleaded "Not Guilty" on both charges.

Politico noted that Navarro tried to get out of these charges, with Donald Trump himself trying to help out his former aide. A lawyer for the former president issued a letter last January to endorse the decision by former White House adviser Peter Navarro to ignore the subpoenas for him by claiming executive privilege.

"This confirms President Trump's position that, as one of his senior advisors, you had an obligation to assert executive privilege on his behalf and fully comply with the principles of confidentiality stated above when you responded to the Committee's subpoena," wrote Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran in his letter.

The effort ultimately failed as Judge Mehta wrote in his opinion letter, "Defendant has failed to come forward with any evidence to support the claimed assertion of privilege." He ruled that the claim of executive privilege was unproven therefore the "Defendant cannot avoid prosecution for contempt."

Peter Navarro Also Embroiled in Presidential Records Case and Lost

Navarro was also involved in keeping hundreds of government records during the Trump administration from the National Archives. He tried keeping these Trump documents despite a judge ordering him to return them, leading to another legal battle.

The former Trump aide has acknowledged that there are still at least 200 to 250 records in his possession and tried to keep them by arguing that there is no mechanism that exists to enforce him to turn them over as it would violate his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination.

According to Politico, a judge did not agree and ordered him to return these records. Navarro appealed, leading to a federal appeals court panel ruling against Navarro once again.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Cuffed And Shackled: Trump Aide Navarro's Arrest Puts Heat On Coup Plot After MSNBC Confession - MSNBC