The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday asked a judge to order former White House adviser Peter Navarro to return private email communications that he sent while working for the Trump administration, claiming that he has “refused” to do so in violation of a record-keeping law.
In a motion filed in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., the DOJ noted that while working as a senior White House advisor from January 2017 until January 2021, Navarro was subject to the terms of the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
Under that act, Presidential records are the property of the federal government and once that president leaves office, “[t]he United States shall reserve and retain complete ownership, possession, and control of Presidential records; and such records shall be administered in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.”…