Earlier this week, Peter Navarro, a former Trump advisor, was sentenced to four months in prison for defying a congressional subpoena from the partisan January 6th Committee. He’d been found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of criminal contempt of Congress in September.
"They even want to put me in prison before I can have my appeal in this case,” Navarro, 74, told Sean Hannity on Fox News on Friday. "They want Trump in prison and out of the Oval Office, and they want folks like me not to be able to help him out."
"Four months in prison at my age is effectively a death sentence,” he added.
Trump adviser Steve Bannon received a similar sentence.
Meanwhile, Hunter Biden, who defied two congressional subpoenas, got a chance for a do-over after two House committees voted to send a contempt resolution to the full House. After the votes, his legal team made up a new excuse for his refusal to testify — that they were "legally invalid” because they preceded the formal impeachment inquiry into Joe Biden — and said they’d comply with another subpoena.
"If you issue a new proper subpoena, now that there is a duly authorized impeachment inquiry, Mr. Biden will comply for a hearing or deposition. We will accept such a subpoena on Mr. Biden’s behalf,” Hunter’s lawyer Abbe Lowell wrote.
It was a terrible excuse that House Republicans said they didn’t recognize as legitimate.
In a letter to Mr. Lowell, they wrote, "contrary to the assertions in your letter and for the reasons explained below, the subpoenas issued to Mr. Biden on November 8 and November 9, respectively, are lawful and legally enforceable. Mr. Biden has asserted no valid constitutional or legal privilege excusing him from complying with these subpoenas. The committees will not afford Mr. Biden special treatment."
Recommended: Joe Biden Just Got Humiliated in the Border Standoff With Texas
"Although the Committee’s subpoenas are lawful and remain legally enforceable, as an accommodation to Mr. Biden and at your request, we are prepared to issue subpoenas compelling Mr. Biden’s appearance at a deposition on a new date in the coming weeks,” they added.
In light of the convictions of both Bannon and Navarro, there was clear precedent for the successful prosecution of Hunter Biden for contempt of Congress, and it would have put the Biden administration in a very awkward position. The responsibility of prosecuting the contempt charges would fall on the shoulders of the Biden Justice Department. Meaning that Joe Biden’s government would have to decide whether to enforce the law or protect the son of a president guilty of the same crime as Bannon and Navarro.
It was a no-win scenario for the Biden administration. Opting not to prosecute Hunter for his defiance of a congressional subpoena risked reinforcing Republican claims of a two-tiered justice system where well-connected Democrats are never held accountable. Conversely, pursuing legal action against Hunter during the heat of the presidential campaign season, with the potential consequence of jail time, was no better.
So, why didn’t Republicans ignore Lowell’s request for a new subpoena and send the contempt resolution to the full House to vote on? After Bannon initially refused to testify, he changed course and agreed to do so, but wasn’t afforded the same opportunity.
There are really only two options. The first option is that Rep. James Comer and Jim Jordan believe there’s more to gain by getting Hunter on the record in a hearing. That's certainly possible.
The second is that Comer and Jordan figured out they didn’t have the votes in the full House. I really want to believe it’s the first option, but I have to admit, given the GOP’s slim majority and the wobbliness of some Republicans, I wonder if they realized the full House was going to fail.
