Former Trump Advisor Peter Navarro Seeks Supreme Court Intervention to Delay Prison Sentence for Contempt of Congress
Former advisor to the 45th President of the United States, Peter Navarro, has appealed to the Supreme Court in an effort to postpone his upcoming four-month prison term for contempt of Congress. The filing comes as Navarro prepares to report to a federal prison in Miami on March 19, following his conviction for non-compliance with a subpoena issued by the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Navarro’s legal team has argued for a stay of execution of the lower court’s ruling that denies his request to remain free while he appeals the conviction in the Federal Appeals Court in Washington, D.C. According to the attorneys, their client poses no risk of flight or endangerment to public safety and is raising substantial legal questions rather than attempting a delaying tactic.
The attorneys stated in their filing, “Navarro is indisputably neither a flight risk nor a danger to public safety should he be release pending appeal.” Instead, they emphasized that Navarro has launched an appeal and intends to raise various legal issues that could potentially lead to the reversal of his conviction or a new trial.
Two lower courts have previously rejected similar appeals from Navarro. On March 16, the DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously dismissed his bid for a stay, concluding that he hadn’t adequately demonstrated why he should be permitted to remain free during the course of his appeal. In their unsigned order, the judges asserted that Navarro’s argument “has 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.”
Navarro was sentenced earlier this year following his conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee. This conviction marked the culmination of an investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
