United States – Convicted ex-Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro is to report to prison this month, his lawyers have informed in a court filing, which could possibly mean that he would be the first senior member of the administration of the former US President to go behind bars for trying to overturn his 2020 defeat.
Trump’s Advisor
Navarro, who was working as Trump’s trade adviser, is supposed to begin his four-month sentence on Mar. 19, according to a filing made on Sunday by his lawyers to the US House of Representatives committee, which was investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, as reported by The Associated Press.
Plaintiffs have gone to court in Washington, DC, seeking the appeals court to prevent Navarro from serving the sentence until the conviction has been thoroughly examined. His defense team made it known that they would approach the Supreme Court if their demand was refused.
Contempt of Congress and Executive Privilege Claim
Navarro, who is 74 years old, was sentenced for contempt of Congress last year for refusing to provide any evidence or give statements to the Democratic committee looking into the Reynolds riot at the US Capitol, an act by the failed Trump supporters to oppose the result of the 2020 election. He received his sentence back in January.
Navarro, an independent who also counseled Trump on the COVID pandemic response, has supported Trump’s claim to have espoused the doctrine of executive privilege, which legally protects Presidential documents and conversation secrecy.
A federal judge, he reasoned, had already determined that Trump had not brushed the veil of the privilege claim.
Bannon’s Precedent and Ongoing Legal Battles
Steve Bannon, a former top Trump strategist, was sentenced to prison for refusing a subpoena to the Jan. 6th panel commission; nonetheless, a judge enabled his stay out of prison until the appeal verdict is reached.
Navarro unsuccessfully argued that former President Donald Trump had used his privileges of being an executive over his testimony and document production.
In a statement issued in response to the order, Navarro called his case “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 said, as reported by ABC News.
Navarro would become the first former Trump adviser to report to jail for actions related to the Jan. 6 attack.
