Topline
Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro must report to prison Tuesday afternoon for his four-month sentence, Chief Justice John Roberts ruled on Monday, denying Navarro’s request to stay out of jail while he appeals his conviction for rejecting a subpoena from the House Jan. 6 select committee.
Key Facts
Monday’s ruling marks the end of the road for Navarro’s repeated attempts to stay out of prison, with Navarro scheduled to report to federal prison in Miami by 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Navarro was sentenced in January to four months in prison and a $9,500 fine on two counts of contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena, though that sentence was two months shorter than the six-month prison time that federal Department of Justice prosecutors had requested.
Navarro, who appealed his conviction, was ordered to prison last month, after a federal appeals court rejected his initial request to stay out of prison during his appeals process.
Navarro had contended he was protected by executive privilege in refusing the subpoena, though in his ruling, Roberts said he found “no basis to disagree with the determination” made by a previous court that Navarro “forfeited” his claim that he had been protected by executive privilege.
Stanley Woodward, Navarro’s attorney, declined to comment to Forbes.
Key Background
The House Jan. 6 Committee, in its 18-month investigation into the events leading up to the Capitol Insurrection, subpoenaed Navarro for documents and testimony on the so-called Green Bay Sweep, his plot to overturn former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss. Navarro denied the subpoena, claiming he was protected by executive privilege. He was convicted last September on two counts of contempt: for not providing documents and for not providing testimony. He was sentenced in January.
Contra
While Navarro has not denied his failure to cooperate with the subpoena, he has maintained he was unable to comply because Trump had invoked executive privilege keeping him from providing testimony or documents to the committee. His attorneys had requested a sentence of no more than six months of probation and a $200 fine. Lower courts rejected that claim, as well as his claim the prosecution was motivated by left-wing bias, with a district court judge arguing last month that Navarro has not proved prosecution was politically motivated.
Further Reading
