Donald Trump has said he “would absolutely” rehire his federally imprisoned former economic adviser Peter Navarro if returned to the presidency in November.
“I would absolutely have Peter back,” Trump – who has spent more than a year grappling with more than 80 of his own criminal charges – told the Wall Street Journal. “This outrageous behavior by the Democrats should not have happened.”
Navarro since March has been serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress over his refusal to cooperate with an investigation into Trump supporters’ 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol.
In the article that quoted the former president’s plan of rehiring him if he defeats Joe Biden during the fall election, Navarro boasted that he would not want Trump to use his pardon powers on him because he believes he will successfully challenge his conviction and be ordered freed by the US supreme court.
“I will not give the supreme court any excuse to duck what is otherwise a landmark constitutional case regarding the separation of power and executive privilege,” Navarro wrote in an email to the journal from the Miami federal correctional center where he is serving his punishment.
Navarro issued those comments despite the fact that the supreme court has twice denied requests from him to be released from prison. He added that he had “no regrets” over how he had approached the legalities brought against him, maintaining: “I didn’t choose this fight – the fight chose me.”
The 74-year-old served as a senior trade adviser during Trump’s presidency, which ended in defeat to Biden in the 2020 election.
Congress subpoenaed him in February 2022 to answer questions and produce documents about Trump supporters’ attack of the US Capitol in a desperate but unsuccessful attempt to prevent certification of Biden’s electoral victory. Yet Navarro refused to comply, despite having written extensively on the subject in a book.
Federal jurors convicted Navarro in September of two misdemeanor charges of congressional contempt, setting the stage for his imprisonment.
Navarro has remained an authoritative voice about the goings-on in Trump’s camp. Several members of the former president’s inner circle have visited Navarro during his confinement, prompting speculation – even before Friday’s Wall Street Journal report – that he could play a key role in a second Trump administration.
A second Trump administration remains a possibility despite the fact that four indictments across various jurisdictions have charged the former president with 2020 election subversion, improperly retaining classified materials after leaving the Oval Office and illicitly covering up hush-money payments to an adult film actor.
A trial in New York City centering on the hush money is scheduled to resume with closing arguments on Tuesday.
Mainstream economists perceive Navarro’s trade views to be on the fringe. He is vocally critical of Germany as well as China, accusing both nations of manipulating currency.
