Trump adviser Peter Navarro asks Supreme Court to keep him out of prison

WASHINGTON — Peter Navarro, the Donald Trump adviser sentenced to incarceration following his conviction for defying a congressional subpoena, has asked the Supreme Court to intervene after a federal appeals court rejected his bid to put the four-month prison sentence on hold.

In an emergency application filed with the Supreme Court late Friday, Navarro's lawyers say his case marks "the first time in our nation’s history" that "a senior presidential advisor has been convicted of contempt of Congress after asserting executive privilege over a congressional subpoena." The subpoena was issued by the House Jan. 6 committee in February 2022.

The Supreme Court said the Justice Department should respond to Navarro's filing by Monday at 2 p.m. He has been ordered to report to a Bureau of Prisons facility in Miami before 2 p.m. on Tuesday.

A three-judge panel said this week that Navarro had “not shown that his appeal presents substantial questions of law or fact likely to result in reversal, a new trial, a sentence that does not include a term of imprisonment or a reduced sentence of imprisonment that is less than the amount of time already served plus the expected duration of the appeal process.”

An election denier involved in Trump's efforts to overturn the former president's election loss based on long-debunked conspiracy theories, Navarro was subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 committee and refused to provide testimony or documents. He was convicted in September and sentenced in January.

“You are not a victim,” U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta told Navarro at his sentencing. “You are not the object of a political prosecution — you aren’t. You have received every process you are due.”