WASHINGTON (CN) — Peter Navarro, a former senior Trump White House official, faced a federal jury on Wednesday to begin his trial over contempt of Congress charges for refusing to provide documents or testify before the special House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Navarro, who served as a senior trade adviser throughout the entirety of Donald Trump’s administration, played a key role in advancing and promoting false claims of voter fraud and crafting a scheme, known as the “Green Bay Sweep,” to delay the 2020 election certification on Jan. 6 and allow Trump to remain in power.
The U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack subpoenaed Navarro to provide documents and testimony related to the scheme and the false claims that the election had been stolen he had spread to justify the plan. Navarro refused to turn over documents or appear to provide testimony, arguing that as a close adviser to Trump he was protected by executive privilege.
During opening arguments Wednesday, Justice Department prosecutor John Crabb Jr. emphasized that even if Navarro had immunity, he still had to appear before the committee and specifically invoke the privilege in response to their questions.
In his attempt to use the privilege as a blanket protection, Navarro had blatantly disregarded the legally binding subpoena and placed himself above the law, Crabb argued.
“We are a nation of laws, and no one should be above the law,” he said, urging the...
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