A federal judge was unimpressed by former President Donald Trump's adviser Peter Navarro's defense in his contempt of Congress case, which has yet to actually go to a jury, reported CNN on Monday.
The comments made by U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta cast doubt on Navarro's ability to mount an effective argument at trial, which mainly centers on Navarro's claim that the information the House January 6 Committee ordered him to testify on was bound by executive privilege.
"'I still don’t know what the president said,' Mehta told Navarro’s attorney Stanley Woodward, referring to a February 20, 2022, call during which Navarro said it was made clear the former president was invoking executive privilege. 'I don’t have any words from the former president,'" reported Devan Cole. "'That’s pretty weak sauce,' the judge added, referring this time to a comment Navarro says Trump made to him about regretting not letting him testify. The comment had been used by Navarro and his team to bolster their argument that Trump did invoke privilege because his subsequent regret indicated as much."
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Navarro, who served as Trump's adviser on trade, was one of a number of witnesses in the Jan. 6 plotting who refused to cooperate with members of Congress who asked for information. Another, Trump strategist Steve Bannon, has already been found guilty of contempt.
As the trial has taken shape, Navarro has sought a number of delays, in one case because Liz Harrington, a former Trump spokeswoman Navarro intended to call as a witness, became pregnant.
Woodward has emerged as one of the Trump world's go-to lawyers. He is also representing Trump's long-time valet and body man Walt Nauta in the Mar-a-Lago classified documents case, and previously represented Mar-a-Lago IT official Yuscil Taveras before he switched to a federal public defender.