Former Trump administration official Peter Navarro revealed on Wednesday that former President Donald Trump paid roughly $300,000 of his legal bills to fight charges of contempt of Congress.
Navarro was convicted of contempt of Congress this month for refusing to cooperate with a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6 attack on the Capitol.
In a tense interview with MSNBC host Ari Melber, Navarro said that Trump paid “about $300,000” of his legal fees, which were “well in excess of six [hundred thousand dollars].”
“This will be a million-dollar case,” Navarro said. “And Ari, part of the problem here is this lawfare, this notion of that if you can’t put me in prison, you can at least bankrupt me. 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 labor strikes, and I thought I did the honorable productive service to this country, and now I’m stuck with a lot of legal bills.”
When Melber asked Navarro whether he had asked Trump to pay for the $300,000 of legal bills, Navarro replied, “Sure, certainly. Look, he’s been a rock on this, ok?”
Navarro’s revelation comes as Trump is facing increasing legal scrutiny, with the Justice Department investigating his role in the January 6 attack on the Capitol and other potential crimes.
It is unclear whether Trump will pay for the rest of Navarro’s legal bills, but his willingness to pay for $300,000 of Navarro’s bills is a sign that he is standing behind his former aide.
This story is still developing, and we will provide updates as they become available.