An appeals court denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro ‘s bid to stave off his jail sentence on contempt of Congress charges Thursday. Navarro has been ordered to report to a federal prison by March 19. He argued he should stay free as he appeals his conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Quick Read
- Peter Navarro, a former Trump White House official, lost his appeal to delay his jail sentence for contempt of Congress charges related to his refusal to cooperate with the investigation of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
- Set to report to federal prison by March 19, Navarro’s argument for staying free while appealing his conviction was rejected by a three-judge panel, which found his appeal unlikely to succeed.
- Navarro’s legal team, hinting at a potential Supreme Court appeal, previously argued that he was unable to comply with the House Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena due to Trump’s executive privilege, a claim that was not accepted in trial.
The Associated Press has the story:
Appeals court: Ex-Trump WH official Peter Navarro must report to prison
Newslooks- WASHINGTON (AP) —
An appeals court denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro ‘s bid to stave off his jail sentence on contempt of Congress charges Thursday.
Navarro has been ordered to report to a federal prison by March 19. He argued he should stay free as he appeals his conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
But a three-judge panel of the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. disagreed, finding his appeal wasn’t likely to reverse his conviction. His attorneys did not immediately return messages seeking comment, but have previously indicated he would appeal to the Supreme Court.
Navarro was the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress charges. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon previously received a four-month sentence but a different judge allowed him to stay free pending appeal.
Navarro was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Jan. 6 committee. He served as a White House trade adviser under then-President Donald Trump and later promoted the Republican’s baseless claims of mass voter fraud in the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden.
Navarro has said he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta barred him from making that argument at trial, however, finding that he didn’t show Trump had actually invoked it.
