Judge rejects key defense for former Trump adviser Peter Navarro as trial is set for Tuesday

A federal judge ruled Wednesday that former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro will be barred from telling a jury that executive privilege was part of his decision to not respond to a congressional subpoena from the now-defunct House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In a hearing Wednesday, Judge Amit Mehta said there was no evidence that former President Donald Trump had formally invoked the privilege to shield Navarro from testifying before Congress. The judge ruled Navarro can't use his contention that Trump asserted privilege as a defense at trial.  

Navarro told Judge Mehta Monday that Trump had made it "very clear" that he wanted Navarro to invoke certain privileges and not respond to the Jan. 6 committee's subpoena. He testified that on Feb. 20, 2022 — 11 days after he was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee — he called Trump and spoke with him for three minutes.