Former Trump adviser appeals to supreme court to keep him out of prison

Donald Trump White House official Peter Navarro appealed to the US supreme court on Friday to allow him to stay out of prison as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.

Navarro is due to report to a federal prison on Tuesday after an appeals court ruled that his appeal wasn’t likely to overturn his conviction for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the January 6 attack that Trump supporters aimed at the US Capitol in 2021.

Navarro has maintained that he couldn’t cooperate with the committee because Trump had invoked executive privilege. Federal judge Amit Mehta, who was appointed during Barack Obama’s presidency, barred Navarro from making that argument at trial, finding that he didn’t show Trump had actually invoked it.

The emergency application comes as the supreme court separately prepares to hear arguments on whether Trump himself has presidential immunity from charges alleging he interfered in the 2020 election that he lost to Joe Biden

Navarro was the second Trump aide convicted of misdemeanor congressional contempt charges. The former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon previously received a four-month sentence but was allowed to stay free pending appeal by federal judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump.

Navarro – an economist and Trump’s trade adviser – was found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House committee that was investigating the January 6 attack. He also promoted Trump’s lies about how electoral fraudsters denied him victory against Biden and was also given a four-month prison sentence.