Peter Navarro Makes Emergency Move 3 Days Before Checking Into Prison

Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro is seeking permission from the Supreme Court to avoid starting a four-month sentence for his contempt of Congress conviction and going to federal prison next week.

Navarro is urging the court to grant him a stay of freedom while he challenges the conviction in front of the federal appeals court in Washington, DC. In an emergency plea submitted on Friday afternoon, Navarro must report to a federal prison in Miami on March 19.

Navarro’s lawyers argue that pausing the lower court’s decision to deny his plea to remain free is appropriate. They state, “Navarro is indisputably neither a flight risk nor a danger to public safety should he be released pending appeal.”

Navarro has filed an appeal and “will raise a number of issues on appeal that he contends are likely to result in the reversal of his conviction or a new trial,” according to his lawyers.

So far, similar appeals have been rejected by two lower courts. Navarro’s request was unanimously denied by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, stating that he had not provided enough evidence to support his right to remain free while his appeal is pending.

The Supreme Court has asked the prosecution to respond by Monday afternoon as it considers Navarro’s case.

Navarro argues that US District Judge Amit P. Mehta made a mistake in denying him the opportunity to raise an executive privilege argument during the trial. He hopes that the appeals court may overturn that ruling and prevent him from going to prison.

Mehta’s decision contrasts sharply with how Steve Bannon’s conviction was handled. Bannon, a Trump ally, also received a four-month term for defying a congressional subpoena, but the presiding judge granted him parole while his conviction was appealed by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.

Navarro was found guilty in September on two charges of contempt of Congress for ignoring a subpoena from the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. He was sentenced to four months in jail earlier this year.