Former Trump economic adviser Peter Navarro filed an emergency appeal with the Supreme Court on Friday, a last-ditch effort to avoid reporting for his prison term as he appeals his conviction for contempt of Congress.
Navarro has been ordered to report to a Miami prison on Tuesday to serve a four-month sentence in connection with refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Thursday largely affirmed the trial judge’s ruling last month that Navarro’s appeal does not raise a “substantial question of law” and therefore doesn’t warrant his release.
The federal appeals court also found that for Navarro’s arguments on executive privilege to raise substantial questions, it would have required former President Trump to have invoked said privilege — which the court said “did not happen here.”
In his Friday appeal to the high court, Navarro’s attorneys argue he should be allowed to remain free while he pursues his appeal as he poses no public safety or flight risk.
They also claim he stands to raise important issues before the court.
“For the first time in our nation’s history, a senior presidential advisor has been convicted of contempt of congress after asserting executive privilege over a congressional subpoena,” Navarro’s attorneys wrote.
“Dr. Navarro has appealed and will raise a number of issues on appeal that he contends are likely to result in the reversal of his conviction, or a new trial. Chief among them are whether an ‘affirmative’ invocation of executive privilege was required to preclude a prosecution for contempt of congress; what was required of former President Trump for a ‘proper’ invocation of privilege.”
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Navarro, 74, was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress — one for failing to produce documents related to the Jan. 6 probe and another for skipping his deposition.
The federal appeals court determined that Navarro’s complete lack of compliance with a subpoena from the now-disbanded Jan. 6 committee ran afoul of any claims of executive privilege.
“Even if executive privilege were available to appellant, it would not excuse his complete noncompliance with the subpoena,” the appeals court wrote in a two-page order. “Appellant makes no claim of absolute testimonial immunity, nor could he.”
“A properly asserted claim of executive privilege would not have relieved him of the obligation to produce unprivileged documents and appear for his deposition to testify on unprivileged matter,” the court order continues.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, who oversaw Navarro’s trial, had barred his attorneys from using executive privilege as a defense after finding he failed to prove privilege was ever invoked by Trump.
In court filings, Navarro’s attorneys said his defense was “hamstrung” by the “open question” of whether a president can direct his subordinates not to testify before Congress.