{"slug":"peter-navarro-contempt-of-congress-conviction","title":"Peter Navarro Convicted of Contempt of Congress for Defying January 6 Committee Subpoena (2023)","date":"2022-03-02","lastUpdated":"2026-10-10","description":"Between Trump's two terms, former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro refused to produce documents to, or appear for a March 2, 2022 deposition before, the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack. The House held him in contempt on April 6, 2022, a grand jury indicted him on two counts under 2 U.S.C. § 192 in June 2022, and a jury convicted him on both counts in September 2023. He was sentenced to concurrent four-month terms and served them in 2024. The D.C. Circuit affirmed the conviction on July 21, 2026, and denied rehearing en banc. He returned to the White House as Senior Counselor for Trade and Manufacturing on January 20, 2025.","summary":"Navarro asserted executive privilege before seeing the subpoena and refused to engage with the Select Committee. The district court found that President Trump had not invoked executive privilege for the subpoena. After the 2025 change of administration the Justice Department moved to strike its own appellate brief and was deemed to have withdrawn from the appeal; the D.C. Circuit affirmed anyway. The Washington Examiner reported on August 28, 2026 that the full D.C. Circuit had denied rehearing en banc; his lawyer said the case \"was always headed to the Supreme Court.\" He does not appear on the Justice Department's list of Trump clemency grants (updated September 9, 2026).","category":"rule-of-law","severity":"pre-office","ongoing":false,"sources":[{"url":"https://media.cadc.uscourts.gov/opinions/docs/2026/07/24-3006-2184223.pdf","title":"United States v. Peter K. Navarro, No. 24-3006 (D.C. Cir. July 21, 2026), opinion by Judge Millett","publisher":"U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit"},{"url":"https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/21/politics/peter-navarro-january-6-conviction-appeals-court","title":"Trump adviser loses appeal of January 6-related contempt of Congress conviction","publisher":"CNN"},{"url":"https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/19/politics/peter-navarro-jail-contempt-of-congress/index.html","title":"Peter Navarro begins serving prison sentence after historic contempt prosecution","publisher":"CNN"},{"url":"https://www.npr.org/2022/06/03/1102923746/former-trump-adviser-navarro-indicted-for-contempt-of-congress-over-jan-6-subpoe","title":"DOJ declines to prosecute Mark Meadows, Dan Scavino as Navarro is indicted","publisher":"NPR"},{"url":"https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLS/117/2/hres/BILLS-117hres1037eh.xml","title":"H. Res. 1037, 117th Congress (as agreed to by the House, April 6, 2022)","publisher":"U.S. House of Representatives (via GovInfo)"},{"url":"https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/4704799/appeals-court-denies-peter-navarro-bid-rehear-contempt-challenge/","title":"Appeals court denies Peter Navarro bid to rehear contempt challenge: 'Always headed to Supreme Court'","publisher":"Washington Examiner"},{"url":"https://www.justice.gov/pardon/clemency-grants-president-donald-j-trump-2025-present","title":"Clemency Grants by President Donald J. Trump (2025-Present)","publisher":"U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney"}],"draft":false,"status":"published","tags":["contempt-of-Congress","January-6","between-terms","pre-office"],"relatedEntries":[],"timeline":[{"date":"2022-03-02","title":"Deposition date passes","summary":"Navarro does not appear for the Select Committee deposition, having also not produced the documents due February 23, 2022."},{"date":"2022-04-06","title":"House holds Navarro in contempt","summary":"The House adopts H. Res. 1037, 220–203, finding Navarro and Dan Scavino in contempt and referring them for prosecution."},{"date":"2022-06-03","title":"Indictment unsealed","summary":"A two-count indictment for contempt of Congress, returned the previous day, is unsealed."},{"date":"2024-03-19","title":"Reports to prison","summary":"Navarro begins serving his four-month sentence."},{"date":"2026-07-21","title":"Conviction affirmed","summary":"The D.C. Circuit affirms; the government had been deemed to have withdrawn from the appeal."}],"location":{"name":"Washington, D.C."},"custom":{"posture":"judicial-finding","structuredPerpetrators":[{"name":"Peter Navarro","role":"Former Director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy (private citizen at the time)"}],"updateLog":[{"date":"2026-10-10","summary":"Fact-check: added the August 2026 denial of rehearing en banc and the Justice Department clemency list; corrected the description of the district court's privilege finding."},{"date":"2026-10-09","summary":"Added for the Before Office record as between-terms conduct. Navarro served in the first administration from January 20, 2017 to January 20, 2021 and rejoined on January 20, 2025."}],"keyPoints":["The Select Committee's subpoena ordered Navarro to produce a schedule of documents by February 23, 2022 and to appear for a deposition on March 2, 2022","Asked whether he would accept service, Navarro replied within minutes, before seeing the subpoena: \"Yes. No counsel. Executive privilege.\"","On April 6, 2022 the House adopted H. Res. 1037 finding Navarro in contempt and referring him to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia","In June 2022 a grand jury indicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress; in September 2023 a jury convicted him on both counts after a two-day trial","He was sentenced to concurrent four-month terms and, per CNN, became the first former White House official imprisoned for contempt of Congress; he completed the sentence in July 2024","After the change of administration the Justice Department moved to strike its own brief, saying it was 'no longer taking the same position as the prior administration'; the D.C. Circuit treated it as withdrawn and affirmed on July 21, 2026"],"verificationStatus":"cross-referenced","postureNote":"United States v. Navarro, No. 1:22-cr-00200 (D.D.C.): convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress (2 U.S.C. § 192), September 2023; concurrent four-month sentences, served March–July 2024. Affirmed, No. 24-3006 (D.C. Cir. July 21, 2026). Conduct falls between his first-term and second-term service.","subjects":["peter-navarro"],"legalStatus":"convicted"}}