Navarro laments his lack of funds to pay for lawyers

By Katelyn Polantz | CNN

Previous Donald Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro, who is being prosecuted for contempt of Congress, told a federal decide on Wednesday that he is “at a significant disadvantage” since he has no lawyer 5 times right after his arrest.

He also ongoing to speak publicly on Wednesday about his work with Trump around January 6, though even now refusing to present that info to the Household pick committee investigating the US Capitol attack.

Navarro has claimed he ideas to stand for himself in court. Also Wednesday, prosecutors from the Section of Justice asked for a protective order barring Navarro from disclosing any proof he receives in the circumstance, specially due to the fact he carries on to do media appearances about his predicament, producing a possible “carnival atmosphere.”

“Clearly, the prosecution’s system is to choose gain of an particular person with out adequate illustration,” Navarro stated in a letter to the judge, Amit Mehta of the DC District Courtroom, that was manufactured general public in his circumstance file. “My incredibly independence here is at stake and I ask for the court’s being familiar with that it will take time both of those to come across the appropriate representation and time to establish an correct lawful system.”

In an interview on Fox Information Wednesday afternoon, Navarro reported selecting a lawyer would cost so a great deal, he would shed his retirement savings.

“This is going to value a fifty percent a million pounds, from what I’m staying advised,” he mentioned. “I’ll be feeding on pet food stuff if I stay out of jail.”

On Fox, Navarro once more spoke about what he considered was Trump’s pondering around January 6 — stating the President and Steve Bannon did not want violence.

Navarro has said he refuses to comply with Home subpoenas in search of data about his interactions with Trump for the reason that he has immunity, and e-mails from Pence advisers that are now public make clear Trump advisers understood he would refuse to do what they required.

Bannon is also going through contempt charges for failing to testify to the Residence or switch about paperwork and has pleaded not responsible.

The Justice Department’s request, if granted, could shut down Navarro’s skill to talk as freely about his expenses. Even so, the DOJ is not asking for a so-called gag purchase at this time.

Navarro’s interviews so significantly “demonstrate a substantial hazard that, with no a protective purchase, the Defendant will use non-general public discovery for poor applications alternatively of to prepare the defense he plans to present in advance of this Courtroom,” prosecutors from the DC US Attorney’s Office wrote on Wednesday. “The Defendant has demonstrated as a result of his general public statements that he intends to litigate the merits of the pending rates in the push.”

The prosecutors also described in the court docket filing the varieties of proof they’ve gathered for Navarro’s contempt scenario. That involves witness interviews with law enforcement and in advance of a federal grand jury, communications amongst Navarro and other folks who are unnamed at this time, and facts about Navarro’s cellular phone and electronic mail accounts.