Peter Navarro Should Shut Up Now

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(Pete Marovich/The New York Times/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Does Peter Navarro have any friends? Family? Longtime acquaintances? Is there no one in this man’s life who cares enough to tackle him and put masking tape over his mouth for his own good?

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After blowing off subpoenas from the January 6 Select Committee and a federal grand jury, Donald Trump’s former adviser finds himself under indictment for contempt of Congress. At his initial appearance on Friday, the economist insisted he was going to defend himself pro se because “I don’t want to spend my retirement savings on lawyers.”

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He then marched out of the courthouse and gave an impromptu press conference alleging all manner of prosecutorial misconduct and abuse by arresting authorities. He followed it up with appearances on Fox and Newsmax, where he spoke in detail about the case and claimed that he’d been treated worse than Al-Qaeda.

Navarro: Everything from illegal aliens to Al-Qaeda terrorists were treated better than I was pic.twitter.com/XIs1VlUPxy

— Acyn (@Acyn) June 7, 2022

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Why, yes, American jails are inherently inhumane. No shit, dude!

This morning, prosecutors filed a motion for a protective order, since they’re loath to give grand jury materials to a weirdo who’s shown every likelihood of sharing them with literally anyone who will listen.

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“The Defendant has demonstrated through his public statements that he intends to litigate the merits of the pending charges in the press. Moreover, proceeding pro se, the Defendant does not have an attorney who can monitor his use of non-public discovery material and who is subject to the District’s clear rules limiting extrajudicial statements and other efforts to taint the jury pool,” they write. “An order from this Court limiting the Defendant’s use of discovery only to the preparation of his defense is the best means, therefore, to ensure the Defendant cannot bolster his improper efforts to keep a running public commentary by publishing materials that are not part of the case’s public record and that the Defendant only has obtained through the discovery process.”

Well! Peter Navarro has an answer for that one, and it is … INDESCRIBABLY BATSHIT.

In an email to Judge Amit Mehta, sent via his courtroom deputy, Navarro requests not only an extension of time to respond, but an order from the court blocking the government from filing any further motions.

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And his rationale?

At this point, I remain without legal representation and the prosecution has already begun to file motions despite my request for delay. In this vacuum, the prosecution is placing me at a severe disadvantage.

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That’s right, the guy who was so confident in his interpretation of executive privilege and OLC memoranda that he confidently blew off subpoenas from two branches of government and then announced his decision to forego representation in open court is now complaining that the government is taking advantage of him because he has no lawyer.

Moreover, he alleges that the FBI deprived him of his right to counsel and demands that the court “investigate this particularly egregious breach of due process, confirm my allegations, provide me with the FBI’s rationale for taking such an egregious step, and take actions in this matter as appropriate.”

He’d also like a 45-day “extension of arraignment and status conference” and an order that the government “stand down on further motions designed to exploit my lack of representation until I secure representation.” Which jibes with the prosecutors’ report that they reached out to him to tell him they were going to seek a protective order, and he responded that, “I am in the process of assembling a legal team and it would be premature for you to file this order until my representation is in place and premature to respond further to your queries.”

And he promises to “speak at a later date on the merits of allowing this civil suit to proceed prior to any criminal prosecution of what is a highly controversial and unprecedented case.”

Well. It’s a lot.

But this brainiac has definitely got one thing right: He really, really needs a lawyer.

US v. Navarro [Docket via Court Listener]

Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Topics

Amit Mehta, Crime, Government, Peter Navarro, Pro Se Litigants