A new Mother Jones report slammed former Trump advisor Peter Navarro’s lawyer’s remark Wednesday on the first day of his contempt of Congress hearing.
Navarro is facing two misdemeanor charges for contempt of Congress on allegations he refused to comply with a Feb. 2022 subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select committee.
Stanley Woodward, an attorney representing Navarro, assailed federal prosecutors for “failing to use Navarro’s preferred honorific,” Mother Jones reports.
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“Dr. Navarro, not ‘Mr. Navarro’ as the government has referred to him, is a PhD economist with a degree from Harvard,” Woodward said, according to the report.
Federal prosecutor John Crabb during his opening statement told jurors that the Navarro subpoena “wasn’t an invitation. It’s a legal requirement.”
Dan Friedman writes for Mother Jones that “…Navarro’s wish to have his PhD recognized may be a good example of his apparently substantial self-regard. A man who advised Trump on trade, China, Covid, and how to try and retain power despite losing the 2020 election, Navarro also seems to have taken the position that his own interpretation of the Constitution excludes him from having to respond to an official congressional inquiry.”
Navarro is among two witnesses sought by the Jan. 6 select committee whose failure to comply with a subpoena prompted criminal charges. The other is Steve Bannon, who was sentenced to four months in prison last year after a jury convicted him on two counts of defying the congressional subpoena.
“Mr. Navarro ignored his subpoena,” Crabb said.
“He acted as if he’s above the law, but he’s not above the law.”
The prosecution rested after calling three witnesses on Wednesday, the report said, noting Navarro’s attorneys called none.