Navarro says Trump wanted him to assert privileges during Jan. 6 panel investigation

Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro testified in federal court Monday that former President Trump made it “very clear” executive privilege should be invoked over testimony he was subpoenaed to give the House Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack last year.

Navarro was charged with contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The two counts stem from his failure to appear for a deposition before the House committee investigating the attack and for failing to produce documents requested by the committee. He has pleaded not guilty.

“It was clear during that call that privilege was invoked — very clear,” Navarro said Monday of a Feb. 20, 2022, call with Trump, which came days after Navarro had been subpoenaed by the House panel, according to multiple reports.

He later added there was “no question that the privilege had been invoked from the get-go — none.”

Justice Department prosecutors have argued in multiple executive privilege battles that only the current president — not the former one — holds the power to block officials from testifying.

Judge Amit Mehta, who is overseeing Navarro’s case, called Navarro’s defense arguments “pretty weak sauce” and noted that the court still did not know what Trump had said to the former White House aide to leave him with the impression that executive privilege had been invoked, according to the reports.

Former White House adviser Steve Bannon was also charged with — and later convicted of — two counts of contempt of Congress for evading the House Jan. 6 committee. Bannon was sentenced to four months in prison, though he has not yet served that time after a judge said he could remain free pending appeal.

Navarro served as an economic adviser to Trump and promoted his false claims of election fraud after the 2020 presidential election.

Navarro was appearing for a pretrial hearing over whether his own testimony can be used in his contempt trial set to begin Sept. 5. A ruling is expected Wednesday.