Former Trump Advisor to Begin Prison Sentence

(NationRise.com) – The Trump administration’s former economic advisor, Peter Navarro, was ordered to report to a prison in Miami on March 19 to start serving a four-month sentence after refusing to comply with a House probe into the Capitol riots in 2021. The 74-year-old man was convicted in 2023 on two counts of contempt of the House of Representatives. One count was for skipping his deposition, and the other one was for failing to produce records related to the investigation.

In a March 10 court filing, Navarro’s legal team wrote that a US federal appeals court must pause his sentence while he formally appeals his conviction. Some media outlets said that, in case the effort fails, Navarro could become the first significant adviser of former president Donald Trump to serve time in jail over his role in overturning the results of the 2020 presidential election.

The US District Judge who is overseeing his case, Amit Mehta, declined to allow Navarro to stay out of prison during his appellate process. While Navarro’s lawyer argued that the execute privilege’s question rose to the January 6 panel’s threshold, the judge disagreed and even ruled that his appeal doesn’t raise any question of law, and therefore doesn’t justify his release.

Former White House adviser and Trump ally Steve Bannon was also convicted on counts of contempt of Congress in 2023, and sentenced to four months behind bars. However, a different judge ruled that Bannon could remain out of prison pending appeal. He argued his case in front of a federal appeals court back in November 2023 and hasn’t served any prison time so far.

At trial, state attorneys claimed that the former economic advisor expressed “utter disregard” for the Congress committee’s investigation and contempt for the country’s rule of law. Assistant US Attorney John Crabb said that the House committee was conducting a probe into the attack committed against the “foundation of our democracy.” He added that it was impossible for the House to undertake a “more serious investigation.”