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Ex-Trump aide Navarro pleads not guilty to contempt charges

File photo of White House trade adviser Peter Navarro listening as President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House, on Aug. 14, 2020, in Washington.
Patrick Semansky
/
AP

Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty Friday to contempt of Congress charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Navarro, 72, appeared in federal court in Washington to be arraigned on the two-count indictment.

The one time San Diegan was charged with one contempt count for failing to appear for a deposition before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack and a second charge for failing to produce documents the committee requested.

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U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta scheduled a trial for November. Navarro’s lawyers asked for the trial to be held next year, saying the case presented constitutional and legal questions that need to be litigated.

Navarro has argued that the select committee investigating the attack is unlawful; therefore, a subpoena issued to him in February is unenforceable under law.

  • The televised hearings into the January 6 insurrection have so far featured many of Donald Trump’s inner circle of advisors. But one person we haven’t heard from is a man with deep roots in San Diego.

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