Washington — Former President Donald Trump’s White House trade adviser, Peter Navarro, has been ordered to report to federal prison in Miami by March 19, following his conviction for two counts of criminal contempt of Congress, his lawyers revealed in a court filing on Sunday.
Navarro was convicted by a jury last year of defying a subpoena for documents and testimony from the now-defunct House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol After refusing to comply with Congress’ request, the House of Representatives held him in contempt and referred the matter to the United States Attorney in Washington, DC, for prosecution.
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Congressional investigators were looking into his efforts to formulate a plan that would have delayed the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election. Navarro is set to become the first Trump administration official to serve time for election-related conduct post-2020.
The former Trump adviser appealed his conviction, stating that he did not comply with the committee’s requests because he believed he was limited by executive privilege. Prosecutors argued — and the judge overseeing last year’s criminal trial agreed — that the explanation did not constitute a valid legal defense because Navarro failed to prove that Trump asserted the privilege. As a result, the court ruled that it could not raise this issue at trial.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who made the decision, said his decision on executive privilege would be subject to appeal because he recognized that the binding legal precedent on which it was based affected the Navarro defense. He then sentenced Navarro to four months in prison and denied his request to remain free pending appeal.
Navarro’s lawyers turned to the appeals court to keep him out of jail during the appeal process and said in court filings that they could take the case to the Supreme Court.
During the trial and at sentencing, prosecutors alleged that Navarro “acted as if he was above the law” when he failed to comply with the committee’s order and ” had thumbed their nose at their work.
The judge, who said he disagreed with Navarro’s public comments about the case, told him during sentencing in January that asserting the privilege was not “magic dust” or ” a free get out of jail free card.”
“If this Court were to conclude that the privilege should have been recognized or that Dr. Navarro should have been allowed to present evidence that he relied on the assertion of executive privilege in his defense, vacating his conviction will be necessary,” Navarro’s lawyers said. wrote to the appeals court on Sunday.
An attorney for Navarro declined to comment further.
In a statement Monday, Navarro said his case “will ultimately determine whether the constitutional separation of powers is preserved, whether executive privilege will continue to exist as a bulwark against partisan attacks on the legislative branch, and whether executive privilege will remain, as the President George Washington was the pioneer, an essential instrument for effective presidential decision-making. It is worth fighting for on behalf of all Americans.”
Former Trump White House strategist Steve Bannon was also found in contempt of Congress after failing to comply with a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. Like Navarro, he was sentenced to four months in prison, but the judge in his case allowed Bannon to remain free pending appeal of his case because the judge said it was likely the higher court could vacate the conviction or order a new trial.
Federal prosecutors declined to prosecute two other Trump aides — former chief of staff Mark Meadows and adviser Dan Scavino — also for contempt of Congress.
