Chief Justice John Roberts declined Monday to pause former Trump White House official Peter Navarro’s prison sentence.
The decision, which Roberts noted is “distinct from his pending appeal on the merits,” means Navarro will have to report to a Miami prison tomorrow as he was ordered to do earlier this month. Navarro asked the Supreme Court on Friday to pause the sentence pending the appeal of his conviction on contempt of Congress charges over defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena. (RELATED: Supreme Court Skeptical That Biden Admin Violated First Amendment By Encouraging Social Media Censorship)
“This application concerns only the question whether the applicant, Peter Navarro, has met his burden to establish his entitlement to relief under the Bail Reform Act,” wrote Roberts, who oversees emergency petitions from the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The Court of Appeals disposed of the proceeding on the ground that Navarro ‘forfeited’ any argument in this release proceeding challenging the District Court’s conclusion that ‘executive privilege was not invoked,’ ‘forfeited any challenge’ to the conclusion that relief would not be required in any event because of the qualified nature of executive privilege, and ‘forfeited any challenge’ to the conclusion that apart from executive privilege, he was still obligated to appear before Congress and answer questions seeking information outside the scope of the asserted privilege,” Roberts wrote. “I see no basis to disagree with the determination that Navarro forfeited those arguments in the release proceeding, which is distinct from his pending appeal on the merits.”
WASHINGTON, DC JANUARY 16: Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts arrives to the Senate chamber for impeachment proceedings at the U.S. Capitol on January 16, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Peter Navarro, an advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to reporters as he arrives at the E. Barrett Prettyman Courthouse on September 07, 2023 in Washington, DC. The jury is expected to begin deliberating today in Navarro’s contempt of Congress case for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena from the House January 6 Committee. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – AUGUST 28: Director of the White House National Trade Council Director Peter Navarro is interviewed by FOX News on the north side of the White House August 28, 2018 in Washington, DC. Navarro was asked about the accord reached between the United States and Mexico to revise key portions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC – MARCH 27: White House Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director Peter Navarro speaks during a briefing on the coronavirus pandemic in the press briefing room of the White House on March 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump signed the H.R. 748, the CARES Act on Friday afternoon. Earlier in the day, the U.S. House of Representatives approved the $2 trillion stimulus bill that lawmakers hope will battle the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Previously, both the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals and U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta denied Navarro’s request to stay the sentence pending his appeal. Navarro was sentenced to four months in jail and a $9,500 fine in January.
In their application Friday, Navarro’s attorneys highlighted that he is the “only former senior presidential advisor to be prosecuted for contempt of congress following an assertion of executive privilege by the president that advisor served.”
Cassidy Hutchinson testified Tuesday in front of the January 6 Committee. (Screenshot CNN, CNN Newsroom With Ana Cabrera)
“Here, despite more than four decades of interpreting the separation of powers doctrine to preclude § 192 contempt of congress prosecutions as against senior presidential advisors, the Department of Justice has concluded that Dr. Navarro’s prosecution is permissible because former President Trump failed to properly invoke executive privilege,” the petition states.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) indicted Navarro in June 2022 for failing to produce documents as required by the Jan. 6 committee and declining to testify.
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