Judge delays Peter Navarro trial on contempt of Congress charges – JP

A federal judge on Friday delayed the start of a criminal contempt of Congress trial of Peter Navarro, amid questions about a potential defense related to former President Donald Trump and executive privilege.

Navarro, a White House adviser during the Trump administration, had been scheduled to go to trial next week on two charges that he refused to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Instead, Judge Amit P. Mehta of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia asked attorneys for the Justice Department and Navarro to address complicated questions of when executive privilege applies for a former aide to a former president.

At a hearing Friday, Mehta said he felt like “we are in uncharted territory” over how to handle such a potential defense at trial.

Mehta already has declined to dismiss the charges entirely on Navarro’s claim that he did not comply with the subpoena because of executive privilege, which gives the president the power to withhold certain documents from Congress.