A former aide to ex-President Donald Trump has predicted that his former boss would be found guilty of criminal counts related to his effort to stop Joe Biden from being certified as the winner of the presidential election in a Washington, DC court.
Peter Navarro was speaking on MSNBC’s The Beat with Ari Melber when he asserted that any jury in the nation’s capital would inherently be biased against the former president; Republicans have taken to making this argument, claiming that the DC area is a monolithic liberal community.
"50 people went through [part of the jury selection process], there wasn't a single Trump supporter in the whole bunch. There were many people who expressed concern or animus about Donald Trump, but they still could be seated if they said that animus would not affect their verdict,” claimed Mr Navarro.
Mr Navarro’s assertion belies the reality that there is no right in the US Constitution to a trial by a jury of your political supporters; it is also factually untrue to say that there are no Trump supporters in the Washington DC area — while Democrats hold a clear edge in local elections, there are numerous communities of right-leaning district residents including Trump supporters around the city and surrounding suburbs.
Still, his argument is one that has been repeated by Trump loyalists in Congress, like Lindsey Graham, as they seek to remain on the good side of the Republican primary electorate by showing unwavering fealty to the ex-president. In the House, Republicans have taken this loyalty a step further by weaponising the Judiciary Committee against the Department of Justice, FBI and local prosecutors who are investigating the former president.
The ex-president is also currently involved in an effort to demand that his allies in the House cause a government shutdown unless the Department of Justice’s criminal investigations into his activities are not defunded by Congress.
Peter Navarro, an advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to reporters as he arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse on September 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. The jury is expected to begin deliberating today in Navarro's contempt of Congress case for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena from the— (Getty Images)
All of the above indicates that Mr Trump plans to use the power of the presidency to end the federal prosecutions of him should he manage to win the 2024 election and take office before his trials conclude; he remains charged separately, however, in two separate state-level criminal investigations which he will not be able to use federal authority to shrug off.
Mr Navarro also claimed in his interview this week that his former boss had contributed around $300,000 to his legal expenses, likely through donations from supporters. The mounting expenses faced by Mr Trump and his allies are only expected to grow in the coming months as the four criminal trials of the former president begin.
He added that his total bills so far equal around $600,000, which is slightly less than he has managed to raise through his own website.
“You know, I’m not a wealthy guy, I wasn’t one of the wealthy guys in the Trump administration. All I ever did was create jobs, save lives and settle labour strikes,” Mr Navarro claimed. “And now, I’m stuck with a lot of legal fees.”
