The Supreme Court rejected former Trump adviser Peter Navarro’s request for prison release on Monday while he appealed his conviction for contempt of Congress.
It was the court’s second refusal to keep Navarro from serving his four-month term.
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Chief Justice John Roberts’ statement that he saw no reason to disagree with a lower court ruling dismissing Navarro’s plea to remain free on appeal led to Navarro’s imprisonment on March 19.
Navarro’s counsel petitioned the court fifteen days later to have Roberts’ decision reviewed. Lawyers pointed out that the court would not hear Navarro’s appeal until after he had served his sentence.
He is currently serving time at a federal Bureau of Prisons satellite camp for senior male convicts in Miami.
In September, the House committee investigating the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021, found Navarro guilty for refusing to appear or submit information.
Navarro, a former trade adviser, has stated that he was unable to cooperate with the House investigation because former President Donald Trump invoked executive privilege to keep their contacts private. However, US District Judge Amit Mehta found no proof that Trump did this.
Even if Trump did, Mehta decided that Navarro was required to come before the committee and refused to answer specific questions.
Navarro claimed that he should be free while appealing, since he is unlikely to leave the country and poses no threat to public safety. He also stated that he is addressing concerns in his appeal that could invalidate his conviction, such as what constitutes a “proper” use of executive privilege.
The Jan. 6 committee sought to question Navarro because he discussed the strategy to postpone President Joe Biden’s election certification in his 2021 book, “In Trump Time.” Navarro dubbed the operation the “Green Bay Sweep” and claimed it was the “last, best chance to snatch a stolen election from the Democrats’ jaws of deceit.”
Navarro later stated in an interview that Trump was “on board with the strategy,” according to the committee.
Another former Trump advisor, political strategist Steve Bannon, declined to cooperate with the committee. The committee found him guilty of contempt of Congress and sentenced him to four months in jail, but he remains free on appeal.
