Dec. 4 (UPI) — Peter Navarro, who was convicted of contempt of Congress, was chosen Wednesday by President-elect Donald Trump to be a senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.
Navarro, who served four months in prison, also served in Trump’s first term as a trade aide.
He served the four months in prison for refusing to cooperate with lawful subpoenas from Congress during the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, pro-Trump violent insurrection at the Capitol.
He was sentenced to prison in March and said then he would “proudly” do his time for refusing to provide documents lawfully sought by Congress.
Trump said on social media Wednesday Navarro “was treated horribly by the Deep State,” otherwise known as the Department of Justice.
When Trump lost the 2020 election, Navarro spread false claims that the election was stolen from Trump.
Navarro was convicted by a federal judge in Washington on two counts of contempt of Congress.
He was a trade adviser during Trump’s first term who backed Trump’s so-called “America First” trade policies, including high tariffs.
When Congress subpoenaed Navarro, Jan. 6 committee chair Rep. Bennie Thompson said Navarro had “information directly relevant to the Select Committee’s investigation into the causes of the January 6th attack on the Capitol.”
Judge Amit Mehta barred Navarro’s claim of executive privilege when he defied the subpoenas, ruling there was no evidence any such assertion was ever made as Navarro refused to comply with subpoeanas from Congress.
Navarro took his case to the U.S. Supreme Court twice in efforts to stay his prison sentence, but the court denied Navarro’s request to stay his prison sentence.
