- Navarro, 74, began a four-month sentence in March for contempt of Congress
- The Supreme Court has rejected his latest attempt to be released while he appeals
Donald Trump’s former top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, will have to remain in federal prison after the Supreme Court rejected his request for release while he appeals.
The 74-year-old reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami in March to begin a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
He began his stint behind bars after Chief Justice John Roberts rejected his last-minute bid to remain free.
Now, the highest court in the United States has rejected another request to be released from the 80-person dormitory for senior inmates.
Donald Trump’s former top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, will have to remain in federal prison after the Supreme Court rejected his request for release while he appeals.
His request to Justice Neil Gorsuch was referred to the full court, which then denied it.
Navarro was found guilty of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress last year after defying a subpoena to testify before the Jan. 6 House committee investigating the Capitol riot.
He was sentenced to four months and a $9,500 fine, but appealed almost immediately.
Navarro has argued that he was bound by executive privilege when he ignored the subpoena.
But the key issue the judge raised in court was that there was no evidence it had ever been invoked.
One of his offers was also rejected by a three-judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in Washington DC.
They concluded that it was unlikely that he would be able to get a new trial or overturn his conviction.
Navarro served as a trade adviser during Trump’s presidency and is the first senior member of his administration to be jailed in connection with efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Before surrendering to the prison guards, He told reporters gathered in a parking lot across the street that he would serve his sentence “with pride.”
The 74-year-old reported to the Federal Correctional Institution in Miami in March to begin a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
Now, the highest court in the United States has rejected another bid to be released from the 80-person dormitory for senior inmates.
Before turning himself in to prison guards in March, Navarro told reporters gathered in a parking lot across the street that he would serve his sentence “with pride.”
Navarro was a trade adviser to President Donald Trump. They are seen together in 2020 examining an all-electric van on the South Lawn of the White House.
“When I walk into that prison today,” he said, “the justice system as it stands will have dealt a devastating blow to the constitutional separation of powers and executive privilege.”
The setting, outside a shopping center next to a Shell gas station, provided a mundane backdrop for such a challenging speech and for a man who, as a White House trade adviser, was once a regular in the Oval Office.
“I will proudly go in there to serve my sentence,” he said. “This will strengthen me: Donald John Trump is the candidate.”
After Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, Navarro emerged as an outspoken supporter of conspiracy theories that the election was stolen.
He assembled dossiers to back up his claims with titles like “The Art of the Steal” and “The Immaculate Deception.”