On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Washington, DC, dismissed Peter Navarro’s appeal to reverse his felony contempt of Congress conviction, which he received while serving as an advisor to President Donald Trump.
The unanimous ruling by a panel of three judges from the DC US Circuit Court of Appeals represents another setback for Trump’s advisors in their efforts to mitigate the legal consequences stemming from the January 6, 2021, US Capitol riot.
The ruling also focused on Navarro’s inability to demonstrate that Trump had intended to protect him from testifying before Congress.
In 2023, Navarro was convicted for ignoring congressional subpoenas linked to his public assertions about efforts to obstruct Congress from certifying Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election. The House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot sought both his testimony and the documents he possessed, which he declined to provide.
Although Navarro has served time in federal prison, he has long maintained in court that Trump instructed him not to comply with the House’s requests, citing an alleged formal claim of executive privilege.
However, the panel from the DC Circuit, which included Judges Patricia Millett, Nina Pillard, and Michelle Childs, concluded that Navarro’s argument was unfounded.
According to the opinion penned by Millett, “Dr. Navarro first claimed executive privilege on his own without consulting or receiving guidance from President Trump.”
The court noted that Navarro lacked any evidence indicating that Trump instructed him during a brief phone conversation to ignore the committee’s subpoena. Moreover, both a lawyer and an advisor for Trump who testified against Navarro in a grand jury stated that Trump never made a formal decision to protect Navarro.
“Dr. Navarro promptly and unequivocally claimed executive privilege without consulting anyone… He did so prior to even reviewing the subpoena and its accompanying letter, which clearly indicated that the subpoena requested information that Dr. Navarro admits is not privileged, as he had publicly discussed it in his book and interviews,” the court stated. “This undermines Dr. Navarro’s claimed good-faith defense rather than supports it.”
The court further emphasized that during Navarro’s indictment and trial, both the executive branch—under the Biden administration—and Congress sought accountability. The Trump administration has allowed the Navarro appeal to proceed.
“In this instance, the Political Branches are in complete agreement. Congress held Dr. Navarro in contempt,” Millett stated in the opinion. “And the Executive both communicated to Dr. Navarro that his claim of executive privilege was unwarranted and exercised its exclusive power to pursue this prosecution.”
All judges on the panel were appointed by presidents from the Democratic Party.
Navarro, currently serving as a White House trade advisor, along with Steve Bannon, another close Trump associate, are both seeking to overturn their convictions in court. Each served time in federal prison in 2024 for failing to comply with House subpoenas related to January 6.
When Congress issued subpoenas for their testimonies and the Justice Department pursued charges, both Bannon and Navarro were private citizens, and Trump was no longer in office, having completed his two terms.
Even after Trump regained the presidency last year, neither individual has received a presidential pardon, despite the extensive clemency Trump has granted to others involved in January 6 and his allies.
While their appeals continue, the Justice Department indicated to the courts this year that it sought to have the charges against Bannon dismissed.
Navarro’s legal team has stated that they do not wish for the charges against him to be dismissed in the same manner as Bannon’s.
“The ruling from the D.C. Circuit panel today was anticipated, and Peter Navarro was aware that it would be part of a longer fight to amend years of flawed DC Circuit precedent,” stated Navarro’s attorney, Abhishek Kambli, in a statement shared with USdaily on Tuesday. “He plans to act quickly with his appeal, as this case impacts every senior presidential advisor, regardless of their political affiliation, who genuinely believes they cannot comply with a congressional subpoena based on claims of executive privilege.”
This story has been updated with additional details.
