A former economic advisor and close ally of Donald Trump, Peter Navarro, was sentenced Thursday to four months in prison for obstructing the investigative powers of Congress which had summoned him to hear about the assault on the Capitol on January 6 2021.
Another ex-advisor to the former American president, Steve Bannon, herald of right-wing populism, had already been sentenced for the same offenses to four months in prison in 2022 but appealed.
Judge Amit Mehta on Thursday handed down the same sentence to Peter Navarro, who announced his intention to appeal, also imposing a fine.
Peter Navarro was convicted in September of charges of refusing in February 2022 to attend and provide documents to the House committee investigating the events of January 6, 2021.
That day, hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, seat of the US Congress, in an attempt to prevent the certification of the victory of his Democratic opponent Joe Biden.
Donald Trump was not directly concerned by the courts for these events, although the commission of inquiry into January 6, 2021 recommended criminal proceedings against him in December 2022, in particular for calling for rebellion and conspiracy against the American institutions.
The Republican was nevertheless indicted in August 2023 by a federal court in Washington then by the courts of the state of Georgia (southeast) for his allegedly illicit attempts to obtain the reversal of the results of the 2020 election.
The ex-president claims “absolute immunity” for his actions while he was in the White House, but the judge at his federal trial in Washington, Tanya Chutkan, in December rejected his appeal to dismiss the prosecution on this pattern.
A federal appeals court in Washington is expected to rule on the matter in the coming days after hearing arguments from the defense and prosecution on January 9.
