Trump Econ Loon Peter Navarro Doesn’t Need No Stinkin’ Lawyer

// Donald Trump’s econ crank Peter Navarro fancies himself a jack of all trades. He’s a lay epidemiologist. An amateur immunologist. A self-taught statistician. Plus an autodidact expert on the electoral college.

And now this self-appointed maven is a lawyer, too! Or at least he’s playing one with the grand jury.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-top-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

Last night, Politico was first to report that Navarro is suing House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the January 6 Select Committee, and Matthew Graves, the US Attorney for the District of Columbia. The pro se filing, styled a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, demands that the US District Court in DC declare the Committee illegal. But unlike the rest of the plaintiffs suing the Committee, Navarro is asking the court to block a grand jury subpoena, too.

Sponsored Successful Finance Practice In New York Seeks Mid to Senior Finance Associate Attorney Four years experience representing lenders and / or borrowers required. Apply within. From KINNEY RECRUITING

Also, he appears not to know the difference between those two things.

On May 26, 2022, two FBI special agents banged loudly on my door in the early morning hours to present me with a fruit of the poisonous tree Grand Jury Subpoena #GJ2022052590979 USAO #2022R00631 commanding me to comply with the original ultra vires, illegal and unenforceable subpoena issued to me by the Committee dated February 9, 10 2022. Specifically, this Grand Jury Subpoena from Matthew M. Graves, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia pointedly ignored all claims of executive privilege and testimonial immunity while commanding me to testify before Grand Jury #22-3 of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on June 2, 2022 and present “[a]ll documents relating to the subpoena dated February 9, 2022” that I “received from the House Select Committee to investigate the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol, including but not limited to any communications with formal President Trump and/or his counsel or representative.”

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-middle-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-storycontent-440x100" ); googletag.enableServices(); }); googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-in-story-youtube-1x1" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

The US Attorney in DC sent a process server to order Navarro to comply with a congressional subpoena? It just makes too much sense.

“Since the subpoena of the Committee is ultra vires, unlawful, and unenforceable, the U.S. Attorney’s Grand Jury Subpoena is likewise ultra vires, unlawful, and unenforceable and the U.S. Attorney must be enjoined from any actions to enforce this subpoena,” he adds, in what probably sounds like logic to someone who thinks lawyers are overpriced hacks who just make shit up.

Sponsored Sponsored Upcoming CLE Deadline? Make PLI.edu Your One Stop For All Things Compliance PLI makes compliance easy so you can get back to your practice. Log in to seamlessly track your progress and stream the CLE credits you… From PLI Sponsored Why Annual Budgeting Isn’t Enough Anymore The how, what, and when of legal forecasting From Above The Law and Axiom Sponsored Successful Finance Practice In New York Seeks Mid to Senior Finance Associate Attorney Four years experience representing lenders and / or borrowers required. Apply within. From KINNEY RECRUITING Sponsored Why Annual Budgeting Isn’t Enough Anymore The how, what, and when of legal forecasting From Above The Law and Axiom

The brief makes several bizarre claims, including that Antifa and “members of the Marxist group Black Lives Matter” participated in storming the Capitol on January 6, 2021, that FBI informants may have instigated the violence, and that Navarro’s statistical string board theorizing “proves” that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.

He then summarizes his own book, in which he wrote at length about topics he now insists are covered by executive privilege:

In the days leading up to January 6, and as reported in my book In Trump Time: My Journal of America’s Plague Year referenced by the Committee, I described a legal and constitutional strategy called the Green Bay Sweep which sought to leverage Vice President Mike Pence’s constitutional power under the Electoral Count Act of 1887.  The goal was to delay certification of the election for at least another several weeks “while Congress and the various state legislatures involved investigate[d] all of the fraud and election irregularities” that would be raised that day on Capitol Hill.

googletag.cmd.push( function() { // Enable lazy loading. googletag.pubads().enableLazyLoad({ renderMarginPercent: 150, mobileScaling: 2 }); // Display ad. googletag.display( "div-id-for-bottom-300x250" ); googletag.enableServices(); });

The entire document is an extended exercise in wackassery, the one topic on which Navarro’s expertise is nonpareil. There are no specific causes of action, just a whole lot of vibes, bolstered by Navarro working through his feelings on executive privilege and who gets to waive it. He may not know where legal footnotes go (hint: not at the end of the complaint!), but it’s fine, see, because he Googled “fruit of the poisonous tree” and “ultra vires,” and he’s pretty sure these apply to his case. (They don’t.) He makes a series of admissions he may well live to regret, including that his election ratf*cking took place outside his “official duties” and that he chose not to show up to testify “because far too many Americans wrongly associate guilt with invoking the Fifth Amendment.” Plus he failed to redact his own home address.

In short, it’s a hot, hot mess, and we feel pretty safe betting that US District Judge Randy Moss will not be taking Navarro up on his invitation to impose a new test for assessing the testimonial immunity of former White House advisors. It seems highly unlikely that Navarro will even effect service before he’s supposed to testify on June 2, but he failed to ask for emergency relief anyway, so, take your time, dude.

Sponsored Sponsored How Visionary GCs Can Find The Ideal Risk-Revenue Balance Can your legal team be an active driver of your organization’s revenue lifecycle management? Read on to find out. From Above The Law and Conga Sponsored A Summer Associate’s Guide To Thriving In The Biglaw Spotlight Congrats On Being A Summer Associate! Now Don’t F**k It Up. From Kinney Recruiting

What are the odds this guy thinks he’s now outsmarted every lawyer in DC and doesn’t have to show up for the grand jury on Thursday?

Pretty, pretty high.

Navarro v. Pelosi [Docket via Court Listener]

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

Topics

Government, Peter Navarro