Justice Department drops lawsuit against Trump adviser Peter Navarro

The Justice Department this week dropped a lawsuit it filed in 2022 against White House business adviser Peter Navarro.

In the case, Navarro was accused of using an unofficial email account for government work and illegally retaining presidential records during the first Trump administration, explains a court document.

The dismissal was confirmed in a joint statement from the Justice Department and Navarro's lawyer, however, they did not give details of why they are dropping the case which reached a peak during Joe Biden's tenure. The single-page document states that each side will bear its own fees and costs of the process, and that the claims cannot be refiled.

The lawsuit against the director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy

The lawsuit accused the economic adviser of using at least one unofficial email account—a ProtonMail account—to send and receive mailings. It was intended to obtain emails from the advisor's personal account, where he allegedly conducted government business. The legal action came just weeks after Navarro was criminally charged for refusing to cooperate with the congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill attack.

The one-time director of the Office of U.S. Trade and Manufacturing Policy (2017-2021) served a four-month prison sentence after being convicted of misdemeanors, such as "contempt."

The civil cases allege that by using the unofficial email account, the 75-year-old Republican failed to turn over presidential records to the National Archives and Records Administration.

Justice informed the court of the decision to dismiss the lawsuit a day before U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Michael Harvey was to preside over a status conference on the case. Sources close to the matter declined to answer questions about Navarro's trial.

Navarro, in addition to being one of Trump's top trade advisers in his first Administration, positioned himself as a fierce critic of trade deals with China. Under the second Trump Administration, Navarro again became an advisor to the president.