Trump Allies Suffer Two Major Blows In One Day

It appears that there is no end to the legal troubles that Donald Trump and his allies will face as the months and years go on. The former President was recently slapped with more than half a million dollars in fines in the state of New York over his civil trials, and allies of the former president do not appear to be faring much better.

Sidney Powell’s Legal Troubles

Sidney Powell, former ally and lawyer for the former president, has been embroiled in legal challenges of her own. Powell was one of the leading attorneys in Donald Trump’s attempts to challenge the 2020 election through legal loopholes and lawsuits, and was charged in the Georgia election interference case.

Rather than facing the charges with her fellow defendants, Powell accepted a plea deal from District Attorney Fani Willis in order to avoid prison. In exchange, she agreed to testify truthfully regarding the matter in all future trials, making her a very valuable asset for the prosecution.

Significant Fines

Powell has faced her own legal issues beyond merely her arrest and subsequent charging in the Georgia election interference case, though. A lawsuit was filed against Powell and other Trump allies, resulting in significant financial and professional ramifications, as a direct result of Powell’s attempts to subvert election results on the behalf of Donald Trump.

Powell and the other members of the legal team were ordered to pay more than $175,000 in fees to the state of Michigan after a district court charged them and found them liable for filing frivolous lawsuits around the election. The fees were intended to cover the costs that the state of Michigan incurred defending the lawsuits.

And Other Consequences

Powell and the other attorneys were also referred to the state bar associations of their individual states to face further consequences. Powell and the other lawyers immediately filed a lawsuit challenging both the fines and the other consequences, and the case worked its way all the way up to the Supreme Court.

Powell and her fellow defendants clearly hoped that a heavily conservative Supreme Court – who Trump appointed a third of – would be sympathetic to their plight. After all, the argument was that they were simply doing their duty to the former president, and exploring every option when it came to the integrity of the 2020 election.

An Appeal Rejected

Unfortunately for Miss Powell and her fellow defendants, the Supreme Court officially rejected the appeal this week. They returned the decision to the lower appeals court with a one-line order, which means that the consequences for Powell and her fellow defendants remain in place.

Powell is not the only Trump ally who has faced consequences this week for actions regarding the former President and his administration. Peter Navarro, another Trump ally and former advisor, recently became the first person ordered to serve prison time – pending appeal – for contempt of Congress in approximately fifty years.

Peter Navarro’s Legal Problems

Navarro has faced myriad consequences in the years since Trump left office. The most recent legal problem that the man has found himself entangled in surrounds dozens of presidential records that were found in his possession.

After their discovery, Navarro staunchly refused to return the documents to the Department of Justice and the National Archives. He argued that the documents in question – of which there are potentially hundreds – are personal documents, and therefore that he isn’t required to turn them over to the United States.

Multiple Documents Cases

This order comes in the wake of multiple cases of classified documents that have been investigated in recent years. Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and even Mike Pence have all been engaged in various investigations regarding classified documents that were found in their possession.

Donald Trump is the only individual who has been criminally charged regarding the documents that were kept in his possession, thus far. The case is pending appeal in Florida, and if the former president is convicted, he could face multiple felony charges for violating the security of the nation with the documents that he allegedly kept and disseminated after he left the White House.

Potential Consequences for Navarro

Navarro’s potential consequences for the documents that were found in his possession won’t be quite as steep, but they’re still significant. Navarro has been held in contempt of Congress for defying a Congressional subpoena, and will be facing jail time for it. Contempt is not generally a jail sentence charge, so the fact that he will be facing four months behind bars is notable.

This is not the end for Navarro, though. On Tuesday, federal judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly threatened to hold Navarro in contempt of court for defying her order to return the presidential records in his possession to the National Archives.

An Order to Return Documents

The opinion released by the judge bluntly stated that Navarro was continuing to hold at least one presidential record in his possession, despite being ordered to return them to the National Archives by the courts.

Kollar-Kotelly is giving Navarro until March 21 to review approximately 600 records that are in his possession, to determine whether additional government files are among them. If he does not meet this deadline or continues to refuse to turn the documents over to the National Archives, Navarro could potentially be facing contempt charges from the court in addition to the federal contempt charges that he has already been convicted of.

A Bad Week for Trump

All in all, a bad week for the former President and his allies. The United States justice system is slow, though, and more consequences are set to come. Donald Trump’s first criminal case is set to begin on March 25, and it’s expected that the former president will be heavily engaged in legal proceedings in the months following.

This isn’t a great prediction for the former president ahead of the 2024 election, which he is expected to run in as the Republican presidential pick. Justice waits for no man, and no election, though, and Trump and his allies are simply going to have to wait to face consequences for actions that have been years in the making.