In a recent development, a federal judge has rejected a bid for a new trial by Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House official, who was convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the U.S. Capitol attack.

Navarro, who served as a White House trade adviser under President Donald Trump, was found guilty by a jury in Washington's federal court for defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this month.

Navarro's legal team argued that he should be granted a new trial, alleging that jurors may have been improperly influenced by political protesters during a break outside the courthouse before announcing the verdict in September.

However, U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta dismissed this argument in his ruling, stating that Navarro failed to demonstrate any prejudice resulting from the jury's eight-minute break outside the courthouse. The judge noted that the jurors only interacted with each other and the court officer, and there were no activities resembling a protest or any external influence on the jury.

Navarro's attorney declined to comment on the ruling.

It is worth mentioning that Navarro is the second Trump aide to face contempt of Congress charges, following former White House adviser Steve Bannon. Bannon was convicted of two counts and sentenced to four months in jail, but he has remained free pending appeal.

Navarro has expressed his intention to appeal the verdict, stating that the judge's ruling, which prevented him from arguing executive privilege as a defense, left him with no choice but to refuse to cooperate with the committee. The defense team contended that Navarro had not acted willfully in failing to comply with the subpoena.

Navarro's sentencing is slated for January 25th in Washington's federal court. He was convicted on two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress, with each count carrying a maximum sentence of up to one year behind bars.