Peter Navarro, a trade adviser to Donald J. Trump during his presidency, must report to prison after a federal appeals court on Thursday rejected his near-final bid to remain free while appealing his conviction for contempt of Congress.
The ruling meant Mr. Navarro must comply with a Bureau of Prisons order and report to a federal prison in Miami by Tuesday unless the Supreme Court intervenes at the eleventh hour, which his lawyers had previously promised would happen if necessary would make him the first senior adviser to Mr. Trump, who is serving a prison sentence for his role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
Mr. Navarro, 74, was sentenced to four months in prison in January for refusing to cooperate with the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. The committee had subpoenaed Mr. Navarro for documents and testimony and demanded that he testify about a plan he had hatched to delay the certification of the election by delaying the counting of electoral votes.
After receiving the subpoena, Mr. Navarro dismissed the committee on the grounds, as he argued in the trial, that Mr. Trump had instructed him not to testify and invoke executive privilege.
Mr. Navarro’s lawyers have consistently argued that his case raises new legal questions related to executive privilege and is likely to lead to new insights into Congress’ oversight of the executive branch. They also pointed to Stephen K. Bannon, another adviser to Mr. Trump, who was allowed to remain free while he appealed an identical ruling for similarly blocking the committee.
However, a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals disagreed, writing that he had “failed to demonstrate that his appeal raises substantial questions of law or fact likely to result in a reversal, a new trial or a judgment, that leads to this.” A prison sentence or a reduced prison sentence that is shorter than the time already served must not be provided for. “
The order upheld a ruling by Judge Amit P. Mehta, who presided over the trial, in February denying Mr. Navarro’s request for bail pending further consideration of his appeal.
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2024-03-14 21:41:05
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