Peter Navarro, former Trump aide, sentenced to 4 months for defying subpoena in Jan. 6 probe

WASHINGTON – Peter Navarro, a White House adviser to former President Donald Trump who wrote that he'd authored a plan to overturn the 2020 election, was sentenced Thursday to four months in jail for contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The committee had subpoenaed Navarro for testimony and documents about strategies to overturn the 2020 election. But Navarro defied the subpoena, arguing he was protected by executive privilege to keep his communications with Trump confidential.

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Navarro couldn't demonstrate that Trump had invoked executive privilege − making the adviser's claim moot − before sentencing him to four months in jail.

“You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution,” Mehta said. “These are circumstances of your own making."

Navarro’s lawyers had advised him not to address the judge. But he said he wanted to speak after Mehta expressed disappointment in him.

“I didn’t know what to do, sir,” said Navarro, who has vowed to appeal.

Prosecutor says Navarro 'stonewalled.' Navarro called House probe a 'kangaroo committee'

Assistant U.S. Attorney Elizabeth Aloi had asked in a filing for a sentence of six months in jail and a $200,000 fine. She argued that Navarro, "like the rioters at the Capitol, put politics, not country, first, and stonewalled Congress’s investigation."

Navarro, who called the House panel a "kangaroo committee," had argued he couldn't testify because of executive privilege, to keep communications with the president confidential.

But the court found no evidence Trump had invoked executive privilege. Aloi said Navarro claimed he never spoke to Trump about election issues leading up to the Jan. 6 riot, the subject of the subpoena.

Navarro's lawyer, Stanley Woodward, proposed probation and a $100 fine for each of the two counts he was convicted of. Woodward argued that Navarro believed Trump had invoked executive privilege and didn't want him to testify.

Navarro is one of four people the House voted to recommend the Justice Department prosecute during the Jan. 6 probe. Political strategist Steve Bannon was convicted, sentenced to four months in jail and has appealed.

But the department decided against charging former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and former deputy chief of staff Dan Scavino.

Navarro not charged for Jan. 6, but lawmakers sought to question him about 'Green Bay sweep' to overturn election

The House committee sought to question Navarro because in his 2021 book "In Trump Time," Navarro described a scheme to delay certification of President Joe Biden's 2020 election as the "Green Bay Sweep" and said it was the "last, best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit."

The committee said in its letter to Navarro that he had said Trump and "more than 100 members of Congress were 'on board with the strategy.'" The committee also said Navarro released a three-page report on his website that repeated claims of purported fraud in the election that have been discredited by state and local officials.

Trump faces federal charges in Washington and state charges in Georgia alleging he conspired to interfere with the 2020 election. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Peter Navarro gets 4 months for defying House subpoena in Jan. 6 probe