Ex-Trump aide claims Peter Navarro was “seen as a liability” by White House

Alyssa Farah Griffin, an ex-aide to former President Donald Trump, said on Friday that Peter Navarro was “seen as a liability” by the White House.

Navarro, who served as the director of the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy (OTMP) during the Trump administration and was found guilty on contempt of Congress charges earlier this month, lashed out at ex-White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson on Thursday.

Hutchinson, known for her testimony about Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results before the House select committee that investigated the January 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building, accused Trump lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani of groping her in her new book, Enough. Giuliani has denied these reports.

Her allegations, however, drew criticism from Navarro, who remains a strong supporter of the former president and who has pushed his claims of widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election, which lack substantial evidence.

He wrote in a post to X, formerly known as Twitter: “Watched Hutchinson in West Wing suck candy daily outside Meadows office doing NOTHING. Pimping new ‘book’ with White House loser alyssa farah. Hutchinson sold soul to J6 witch hunt. This her next 15 minutes of fame.@RudyGiuliani hero, Cassidy trash.”

Griffin, who served as Trump’s director of strategic communications, but has turned against him following January 6, slammed Navarro’s response, writing in her own X post that he was viewed as a “liability” and “distraction” by the White House.

“Usually I’d ignore but let me state for the historical record: Navarro was seen as a liability, distraction,& sideshow in the West Wing — From the NEC, to NSC, to OVP, to DPC, to Treasury. To put it as politely as I can: he was ‘strategically’ left off of calendar invites,” she wrote Friday.

Newsweek reached out to Navarro for comment via email.

Griffin said during a CNN appearance earlier this week, in response to Hutchinson’s allegation, that the White House had similar concerns about Giuliani, adding that she “unequivocally” believes Hutchinson.

“It was a known fact within the Trump White House that Rudy Giuliani was a liability,” Griffin said.

Her remarks come just weeks after Navarro was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress over his refusal to comply with a subpoena issued to him by the House select committee investigating the insurrection on the Capitol. He is the second Trump ally, following former adviser Steve Bannon, to be convicted of these charges.

Navarro has said he would appeal the verdict, arguing “this case is not over by a long shot,” the Associated Press reported. His sentencing is scheduled for January 12, 2024. Each contempt charge carries a fine of up to $100,000 and a minimum 30 days in prison, with a maximum sentence of one year.