- A federal prosecutor said the Justice Department wants a trial "as early as possible."
- Navarro accused prosecutors of pushing for a speedy trial to "exploit" his lack of legal counsel.
- The former Trump advisor hired defense lawyers the day before formally pleading not guilty.
A federal judge on Friday set a November trial date for the contempt of Congress case against Peter Navarro, the former Trump advisor who was charged in early June with illegally defying the special House committee investigating the January 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
Judge Amit Mehta scheduled the trial to start November 17, rejecting a suggestion from Navarro's defense team that the court proceeding begin in early 2023. In pushing for that later trial date, Navarro's defense team noted that the former Trump advisor will be promoting a book later this year that is important to his livelihood.
But a federal prosecutor, Amanda Vaughn, said that provided "absolutely no basis" for delaying the trial and argued the criminal proceedings against Navarro should move as "expeditiously as possible."
A grand jury indicted Navarro months after the House referred the former Trump advisor to the Justice Department for criminal prosecution over his refusal to sit for a deposition or turn over records to the House January 6 committee. The Justice Department had previously brought contempt of Congress charges against Steve Bannon, who is set to stand trial in July.
In the initial weeks after his indictment, Navarro represented himself and said he was running up against "a number of hurdles" in hiring defense lawyers. But on the eve of his arraignment, a pair of defense lawyers — John Irving and John Rowley — entered appearances to represent Navarro.
Navarro accused the Justice Department and FBI of misconduct, claiming the law enforcement agencies were rushing his case and "pushing very hard for a 'speedy trial' as part of its strategy to exploit the unrepresented."
"Clearly, the prosecution's strategy is to take advantage of an individual without adequate representation," Navarro wrote in a letter to Judge Amit Mehta. "At this point, I am very actively seeking a legal team but am facing a number of hurdles."
Navarro, an economist who encouraged Trump's imposition of harsh trade tariffs, spread unverified claims of widespread election fraud as lawyers for Trump pressed dozens of cases claiming fraud that they would lose.
