Peter Navarro complains about possible legal costs: ‘I will eat dog food if I stay out of jail’

Navarro said he plans to represent himself in court. Also on Wednesday, Justice Department prosecutors sought a protective order barring Navarro from disclosing any evidence he receives in the case, including because he continues to make media appearances about his situation, creating a potential “carnival atmosphere”.

“Obviously, the prosecution’s strategy is to take advantage of an individual without adequate representation,” Navarro said in a letter to the judge, Amit Mehta of the DC District Court, which was made public in his filing. “My very freedom here is at stake and I ask the court to understand that it will take time both to find the appropriate representation and to develop an appropriate legal strategy.”

“It’s going to cost half a million dollars, I’m told,” he said. “I will eat dog food if I stay out of jail.”

On Fox, Navarro spoke again about what he believed to be Trump’s thinking around Jan. 6 – saying the president and Steve Bannon didn’t want violence.

Navarro has said he refuses to comply with House subpoenas requesting information about his interactions with Trump because he enjoys immunity, and emails from Pence advisers that are now public make it clear that the Trump’s advisers knew he would refuse to do what they wanted.

Bannon also faces contempt charges for failing to testify in the House or turn over documents and has pleaded not guilty.

The Justice Department’s request, if granted, could prevent Navarro from speaking so freely about his charges. However, the DOJ is not asking for a so-called gag order at this time.

Navarro’s interviews so far “demonstrate a substantial risk that, without an order of protection, the defendant will use a non-public discovery for improper purposes instead of preparing the defense he plans to present in this Court,” they said. writes prosecutors from the DC US Attorney’s Office. Wednesday. “The defendant has demonstrated by his public statements that he intends to plead the merits of the pending charges in the press.”

Prosecutors also described in court the filing of the types of evidence they collected for the Navarro contempt case. This includes witness interviews with law enforcement and before a federal grand jury, communications between Navarro and others not named at this time, and information about Navarro’s phone and email accounts.