Former Trump trade advisor Peter Navarro became the first Trump official to be jailed in connection to the January 6 riot at the Capitol when he reported to prison last Tuesday to serve his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, the Associated Press reported.
Navarro was convicted in September 2023 for contempt of Congress after he defied a subpoena from the now-defunct House committee investigating the Capitol riot and was sentenced in late January.
His attorneys had requested that Navarro be allowed to stay out of jail while he appealed his conviction. However, in February, the judge overseeing the case, US District Judge Amit Mehta, said Navarro must report to prison when ordered by the Bureau of Prisons unless the federal appellate court ruled otherwise.
On March 14, a three-judge panel from the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rejected Navarro’s request to remain free on appeal.
Navarro filed an emergency petition with the US Supreme Court on March 15 in a last-ditch effort to avoid prison. However, in a March 18 order, Chief Justice John Roberts refused to intervene, saying there was “no basis to disagree” with the appellate court’s ruling.
A defiant Navarro spoke with reporters in Miami on Tuesday as he reported to the Bureau of Prisons to begin his sentence. Navarro described his conviction as an example of the “partisan weaponization” of the justice system and said when he walked into prison, the justice system would have dealt a “crippling blow” to executive privilege and “the constitutional separation of powers.”
While voting for himself in Florida’s presidential primary on Tuesday, former president Trump said Navarro had been “treated very unfairly.” Describing Navarro as “a good man,” Trump said what happened to him was “a shame” but added, “That’s the way it is.”
While Peter Navarro was the first Trump administration official to report to prison, he was not the first to be convicted of contempt of Congress for refusing to cooperate with the January 6 select committee.
Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was also convicted of contempt of Congress and sentenced to four months in jail. However, Bannon remains free while he appeals his conviction.
