Former Trump Advisor Makes Last-Minute Attempt to Avoid Jail

Former Donald Trump advisor Peter Navarro makes a last-minute attempt to avoid going to prison as he asks an appeals court on Monday to intervene.

Navarro was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide documents and testimony to congressional investigators probing the cause of the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, in which a large mob of Trump supporters attempted to disrupt the certification of the 2020 presidential election. The former president said, without evidence, that the election was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud. Trump and his supporters have attempted to claim that the former president had no influence over the group that day.

The committee subpoenaed Navarro in February 2022 but refused to comply, citing executive privilege.

In February a judge ruled that Navarro must serve a four-month prison sentence despite his pending appeals as he was convicted on charges of contempt of Congress for defying the subpoena from the January 6 select committee. Navarro has been ordered to report to a Miami prison on March 19 and will become one of the first individuals in the U.S. to serve jail time for contempt of Congress charges in roughly 50 years.

On Monday, Navarro is urging a three-judge appeals court panel to stay the prison sentence while he attempts to overturn his conviction, according to court documents.

"Accordingly, Dr. Navarro respectfully reiterates his request for an administratively stay so as to permit the Court to resolve the instant motion. Should this Court deny Dr. Navarro's motion, he respectfully requests an administrative stay so as to permit the Supreme Court review of this Court's denial," the court document reads.

This is not the first time Navarro has requested a stay, as U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who presides over Navarro's case, previously rejected Navarro's attempt for a similar stay in early February.

Navarro has claimed that Trump ordered him not to testify and instead to invoke executive privilege, but Mehta previously rejected this claim noting that Navarro had offered no evidence that Trump in fact gave such an order.

However, according to court documents, Navarro argues that a stay should be permitted due to an open question of a "proper" invocation of executive privilege.

"Thus, the district court's decision on the elements of a "proper" invocation of executive privilege was not only an open question, but itself a substantial question...Whether this Court affirms, vacates, or otherwise alters the elements of a "proper" invocation of executive privilege set forth by the district court, that this issue of first impression is now before this Court warrants Dr. Navarro's release pending appeal," the court document reads.

In a statement emailed to Newsweek, Navarro reiterated his argument of executive privilege, stating, "United States v. Peter Navarro is a landmark constitutional case that will eventually determine whether the constitutional separation of powers is preserved, whether executive privilege will continue to exist as a bulwark against partisan attacks by the legislative branch, and whether executive privilege will remain, as President George Washington pioneered, a critical instrument of effective presidential decision-making. That's worth fighting for on behalf of all Americans."

Navarro has also pointed to arguments in Steve Bannon's case as he argues it presents unusual circumstances because of his refusal to testify with executive privilege and immunity.

Bannon, another former Trump advisor, was convicted by a jury in July 2022 for similarly refusing a subpoena from the committee. He also received a four-month prison sentence, however, it has been on hold since then as he appeals the convictions. U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who presides over Bannon's case, agreed not to enforce Bannon's four-month sentence while he appeals his conviction to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.