Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro reported to federal prison in Miami on Tuesday to serve his sentence for contempt of Congress, making him the first of the Trump administration to face jail time for a crime related to the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the Capitol.
He also is the only former senior presidential adviser jailed for contempt of Congress.
Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison after being found guilty of refusing to provide documents and cooperate with the Democrat-led House Jan. 6 committee. He was subpoenaed by the committee.
“When I walk in that prison today, the justice system — such as it is — will have done a crippling blow to the constitutional separation of powers and executive privilege,” Navarro, 74, told reporters outside the prison.
“I will walk proudly in there to do my time,” he said, adding that he would “gather strength from this: Donald John Trump is the nominee.”
A federal judge last month denied his request to stay out of prison while he appeals his conviction. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said none of the issues Navarro will say about the appeal are “substantial questions of law.”
Navarro, who advised Mr. Trump on trade issues, requested a stay again in court papers earlier this month.
The select committee subpoenaed Navarro in February 2022, but he said he wouldn’t comply due to Mr. Trump using his executive privilege and calling on him not to testify. Courts have rejected that argument, saying Navarro couldn’t prove that Mr. Trump had invoked the privilege.
His lawyers made a last-ditch effort last week to keep him out of jail, filing an emergency application to Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.
“Not once before Dr. Navarro’s prosecution has the Department of Justice concluded a senior presidential advisor may be prosecuted for contempt of Congress following an assertion of executive privilege,” his lawyer wrote.
Chief Justice Roberts refused to step in. He said he had “no basis to disagree” with the appeals court, and that his finding doesn’t affect the eventual outcome of Navarro’s appeal.
Navarro is the second Trump aide convicted of contempt of Congress. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon is free pending his appeal.
The select committee spent a year and a half investigating the Capitol attack, interviewing over a thousand people and reviewing over a million documents. At the end of 2022, it released an 845-page report that said Mr. Trump engaged in a “multi-part conspiracy” to overturn the 2020 election results and did not act to stop his supporters from storming the Capitol.
• The article includes wire service reports.