Comment A federal judge on Thursday postponed the trial of former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on contempt of Congress charges until Jan. 11 and criticized prosecutors’ suggestion that a trial as originally planned before Congress could be changed hands in the new year, may cause the cooperation of . Navarro, 73, was arraigned next week on two misdemeanor charges that he ignored a subpoena for his testimony and documents from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on Capitol Hill. That date is no longer available, U.S. District Judge Amit P. Mehta said, because of the long-running conspiracy trial set for Jan. 6 involving Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four others. Now in its sixth week, Rhodes’ trial in federal court in Washington has been delayed due to his recent battle with Covid-19 and issues with the availability of witnesses. In an unusually blunt argument against the delay, U.S. Attorney Raymond N. Hulser said it was the “strong preference” of the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. “to try this case while the committee exists,” that is, before Congress adjourns today under Democratic control. Jan. 3, and a new Congress may be led by Republicans in connection with this week’s midterm elections. Hulser said the U.S. attorney’s office took seriously its jurisdiction to prosecute the historically rare contempt of Congress charge, including “bringing these issues forward and resolving them as quickly as possible.” “If there’s any possibility that a person might be persuaded by the pressure of a criminal trial to say, ‘Okay, I’ll go and answer questions. I will provide documents. We would like to be a catalyst in that,” Hulser said. Mehta objected to the suggestion that a trial could be used to force cooperation, and Hulser had made it clear that Navarro’s criminal case would proceed independently. “I understand the U.S. attorney’s desire, but I do not want these proceedings to be leveraged in a way that the U.S. attorney’s office has suggested,” the judge said, noting that Navarro “remains free to provide documents or testimony.” Navarro’s attorney, Stanley Woodward, said his client defense is that former President Donald Trump invoked the executive privilege that shields his communications as a top presidential aide from Congress and that it is up to the House to negotiate his cooperation with Trump, not Navarro. Mehta has yet to rule on this claim. Navarro has pleaded not guilty to both charges, each punishable by a minimum of 30 days and up to a year in jail. correction An earlier version of this article reported the wrong trial date in Navarro’s case. This article has been corrected.
