Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro (L) speaks to reporters with his new attorney John Rowley after Navarro was arraigned at the Prettyman U.S. Courthouse on June 17, 2022 in Washington, D.C. DC (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Federal prosecutors deployed a rare procedural maneuver Monday night to seek a court order for the former White House adviser Peter Navaro to give up presidential records of “at least one unofficial email account” without granting him immunity.
“There is no real dispute that Dr. Navarro used at least one unofficial email account to conduct official business, that these records are the property of the United States, and that Dr. Navarro has refused to return the recordings to the United States,” prosecutors wrote in a 14-page memorandum. “Indeed, his attorney expressly acknowledged this. this Court should issue a writ of replevin compelling Dr. Navarro to return what he continues to wrongfully possess.
Facing an ongoing criminal lawsuit for contempt of Congress, Navarro filed a civil lawsuit against him in August for using a ProtonMail account when he was a former president. that of Donald Trump Commercial Counsellor. The Swiss-based email company offers end-to-end encryption of emails sent to each other on their servers. The lawsuit, filed in the District of DC, accused Navarro of flouting the Presidential Records Act and obstructing the National Archives and Records Administration.
The Justice Department turned up the heat on Navarro Monday night, seeking what’s called a writ of replevin.
“Because there is no real dispute that defendant unlawfully preserved and withheld presidential records that are rightfully the property of the United States, this motion seeks summary judgment and a writ of replevin from the Court ordering the defendant to return all presidential records in its possession to the United States,” the memo reads.
Before the Justice Department began legal action, Navarro’s attorney refused to produce documents without a grant of immunity, according to court documents.
Former Federal Prosecutor Mitchell Epner told Law&Crime that the Justice Department’s motion would help avoid that stalemate.
“This is a very clever procedural device by the DOJ to get Navarro’s documents without giving him immunity for the act of producing the documents,” said Epner, who is now a partner at Rottenberg Lipman Rich PC.
According to Epner, this type of government request is rare — but again, so is the alleged conduct that prompted it.
“I’ve never seen it done,” Epner added. “It is very rare for a defendant to be physically in possession of documents that by law belong to the US government.”
Law&Crime contacted Navarro’s lawyer John S. Irvingbut he declined to comment on the record on the latest development.
In response to a discovery, the lawyer claimed: “Mr. Navarro never refused to provide records to the government.
“As detailed in our recent letter to the Archives, Mr. Navarro has instructed his attorneys to preserve all of these documents, and he expects the government to follow standard processes in good faith to allow him to produce documents,” Irving said in August.
Having lost his recent attempt to advance even a “colorable” claim of selective prosecution, Navarro will face trial in the contempt of Congress case on November 17.
Do you have a tip we should know? [email protected]
#records #property #DOJ #rare #procedural #device #recover #Peter #Navarros #ProtonMail #account