WASHINGTON − Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro is headed to federal prison after the Supreme Court on Monday rejected his emergency request to postpone his four-month sentence while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.
The Bureau of Prisons had scheduled Navarro to report for detention by 2 p.m. Tuesday in Miami unless the Supreme Court intervened.
Chief Justice John Roberts said he saw no reason to disagree with an appeals court decision denying Navarro’s request to remain free, adding that the decision is distinct from a ruling on the appeal itself.
Navarro was convicted in September for refusing to testify or provide documents to the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Lower courts sided against Navarro
Navarro, a former trade adviser, has maintained that he couldn’t cooperate with the House inquiry because former President Donald Trump had asserted executive privilege to keep their communications confidential. But U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta found no evidence Trump did that.
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A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled last week that Navarro forfeited his chance to make an executive privilege argument, and is unlikely to win his appeal.
Navarro had argued he should remain free while appealing because he’s not likely to flee the country and poses no danger to public safety. He also said he is raising issues in his appeal that could overturn his conviction, including what constitutes a “proper” invocation of executive privilege.
The Justice Department said the Supreme Court didn’t have to consider Navarro’s executive privilege argument because he didn’t comply with the committee’s requests for personal communications that would not have been protected even if executive privilege had been invoked. And even if executive privilege existed, the department continued, the district court said the committee’s demonstrated need for the information was more important.
Why Congress wanted to question Navarro
The Jan. 6 committee wanted to question Navarro because he wrote, in his 2021 book “In Trump Time,” about the scheme to delay certification of President Joe Biden’s election. Navarro described the scheme as the “Green Bay Sweep” and said it was the “last, best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit.”
Navarro said in a later interview that Trump was “on board with the strategy,” according to the committee.
Another Trump aide, political strategist Steve Bannon, also refused to cooperate with the committee and was convicted of contempt of Congress.
Like Navarro, Bannon was sentenced to four months behind bars. But U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump, allowed Bannon to remain free while he appeals his conviction.
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