BREAKING: SCOTUS denies Peter Navarro’s bid to stay out of prison pending appeal
On Monday, the Supreme Court denied former Trump White House advisor Peter Navarro’s bid to remain out of prison while he appeals his conviction.
This is the second time the Supreme Court has denied Navarro’s request to remain out of prison as he appeals his conviction on two contempt of Congress counts. Chief Justice John Roberts, to whom the first emergency request went by default, in March said the court would not pause his sentence.
According to The Hill, Navarro renewed his motion to Justice Neil Gorsuch, who referred the matter to the full court for a vote. The request was denied.
Navarro was sentenced in January to four months in prison for not complying with a subpoena issued by the January 6 House Select Committee. He was convicted in the case in September, being found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress.
Navarro’s team argued during the sentencing hearing that their client believed he could not comply with the committee’s subpoena due to executive privilege.
“When I received that congressional subpoena…I had an honest belief that the privilege had been invoked,” Navarro said to US District Judge Amit Mehta.
In Chief Justice Roberts’ March decision, he wrote, “This application concerns only the question whether the applicant, Peter Navarro, has met his burden to establish his entitlement to relief under the Bail Reform Act. The Court of Appeals disposed of the proceeding on the ground that Navarro ‘forfeited’ any argument in this release proceeding challenging the District Court’s conclusion that ‘executive privilege was not invoked,’ ‘forfeited any challenge’ to the conclusion that relief would not be required in any event because of the qualified nature of executive privilege, and ‘forfeited any challenge’ to the conclusion that apart from executive privilege, he was still obligated to appear before Congress and answer questions seeking information outside the scope of the asserted privilege. Order in No. 24–3006 (DC, Mar. 14, 2024). I see no basis to disagree with the determination that Navarro forfeited those arguments in the release proceeding, which is distinct from his pending appeal on the merits.”
Navarro was ordered to report to a Miami prison on March 19.
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