Despotism created the remand stretch in prison while waiting for trial. A de facto presumption of guilt, this was French law until the Napoleonic Criminal Code, which outlawed such practices. Peter Navarro has been remanded to prison pending appeal. President Biden’s appointee, Judge Amit Priyavadan Mehta, denied Navarro’s request to stay out of prison during appeal. 

Navarro was ordered to report to a Miami federal prison by 2 pm Tuesday, March 19, 2024. He commented:

“United States v. Peter Navarro is a landmark constitutional case that will eventually determine whether the constitutional separation of powers is preserved, whether executive privilege will continue to exist as a bulwark against partisan attacks by the legislative branch, and whether executive privilege will remain, as President George Washington pioneered, a critical instrument of effective presidential decision-making. That’s worth fighting for on behalf of all Americans.”

Congress and the Department of Justice (DoJ) seek documents and depositions related to what they claim was a criminal conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election.

Navarro’s back is against the wall for a strategy that he helped to craft and wrote about in his 2021 book In Trump Time. My Journal of America's Plague Year; which would delay the January 6, 2021 certification in states suspected of voter fraud. Congressional Certification of electoral votes is required. After each state vote is Certified, the Vice President announces the presidential outcome.

January 6, 2021 -- Nancy Pelosi led the congressional electoral vote process. The strategy was to have various Republican members of the House and Senate challenge votes in states where election fraud was suspected. This could change the outcome of the election. During the vote a mob broke into the congressional chambers. Members left for six hours while the building was secured. When Congress reconvened, unchallenged electoral votes were accepted, and Vice President Mike Pence announced Joe Biden as the winner. 

February 9, 2022 -- Congress issued two subpoenas requiring Navarro to produce documents and to give testimony regarding January 6, 2021. He asked for prosecutorial immunity before producing documents and asserted executive privilege; exempting him from the subpoenas. Each count is a misdemeanor punishable for up to one year in prison, and fines of up to $100,000. His legal bills will exceed $1 million. He is not a rich man. 

June 3, 2022 -- At Reagan National Airport, Washington D.C., Peter Navarro was boarding a plane for Nashville. Without notice he was forcibly  arrested, put in handcuffs, leg irons and placed in a cell. A Federal Grand Jury in Washington D.C. had indicted him for not complying with the two subpoenas. Traditional self-surrender had not been offered.

August 3, 2022 -- The DoJ sued Navarro to compel him to produce emails from a personal Proton Mail account used for White House business.

August 30, 2023 -- Judge Amit Priyavadan Mehta, denied executive privilege efforts to dismiss the charges, declaring “The defendant has failed to come forward with any evidence to support the asserted claim of privilege. Defendant cannot avoid prosecution for contempt.” Mehta asserts that for executive privilege to be valid there must be a personal assertion from the executive. This is open to legal opinion. It is probable the Supreme Court will set precedent on this.

March 9, 2023 -- President Clinton appointee, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, ordered Navarro to turn over records under the Presidential Records Act.

April 12, 2023 -- An appeal to the D.C. Circuit Court for a stay of the March order was denied. Navarro told reporters “You cannot have a partisan Congress that abuses the subpoena process for the purpose of punishing the party that is out of power.”

September 7, 2023 -- A Washington D.C. jury was selected for trial. Navarro declined to testify. After four hours of deliberations, he was found guilty on both counts. Navarro’s attorneys motioned for a mistrial because jurors left court during deliberations. The motion was denied.

January 16, 2024 -- Navarro’s request for a new trial was denied. On January 25 he was sentenced to four months in prison and a fine of $9,500.

March 10, 2024 -- Navarro was ordered to report to a Miami federal prison by March 19, 2024, to begin a four-month sentence. Navarro’s attorneys requested he stay out of prison during the appeal, Judge Mehta denied the request.

For more than 50 years the DoJ supported the policy that senior White House advisers could not be compelled to testify before Congress. This is the first time a senior White House official has been charged with this alleged crime. In President Obama’s Administration, Eric Holder and Hillary Clinton each refused to hand over subpoenaed documents. They were not criminally prosecuted. 

Peter Navarro is 74 years old, attended Tufts University, spent three years in the Peace Corps, earned a master’s degree and a PhD. at Harvard University, and has written more than a dozen books. In the Trump Administration, he clashed with Anthony Fauci, arguing that China violates free trade and profiteered from the coronavirus. He published reports concerning widespread election fraud, and a belief that the 2020 election was stolen. 

Peter spoke at the recent CPAC convention in Washington D.C. He was thin, ravaged by legal battles, and uncertain about facing prison. On center stage he implored us to circulate information about political weaponization in America. Meanwhile he waits for Lady Justice to retie her blindfold and to extend the slow hand of justice.

 The writer is an internationally published writer, a former English teacher, stockbroker, and owner/president of a small corporation. She is active with Republican Women, the Lincoln Club, the California Republican Party; and can be reached at darlenecasella@msn.com

Image: United States Mission Geneva