The Supreme Court denied a request by Peter Navarro, a former advisor to ex-President Donald Trump, to be released from jail while he appeals his four-month sentence for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. Navarro surrendered to a federal prison in Miami on March 19 to begin serving his sentence. He had refused to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee probing the events of Jan. 6, 2021, claiming that executive privilege shielded him from responding to the subpoena. However, the U.S. Solicitor General noted that much of the information sought by the committee was not covered by executive privilege, and Trump did not assert executive privilege.
The Supreme Court rejected Navarro’s application for release pending appeal, marking the second time in six weeks that his efforts to pause his jail sentence were denied. Chief Justice John Roberts previously denied Navarro’s request, stating that he saw “no basis to disagree” with lower court rulings that Navarro “forfeited” arguments related to executive privilege. Navarro’s lawyers renewed his bid to halt the report-to-prison order on April 2, noting that he had already served 15 days in jail at that time. They argued that a federal appellate court in Washington, D.C., had set a briefing schedule for his appeal that would not conclude until mid-July, after the completion of Navarro’s sentence.
Navarro’s conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress stems from his refusal to comply with the subpoena from the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. The violent mob of Trump’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, temporarily delaying the transfer of power to President Joe Biden. Navarro’s claim of executive privilege shielding him from the subpoena was challenged by the U.S. Solicitor General, who highlighted that much of the information sought was not covered by executive privilege, and Trump did not assert executive privilege in the first place.
The denial of Navarro’s request for release pending appeal by the Supreme Court indicates that he will remain in jail to serve his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. Despite his efforts to pause his sentence while he continues to fight his guilty verdict, the Supreme Court has consistently rejected his requests. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Neil Gorsuch have both denied Navarro’s previous requests, citing his failure to address arguments related to executive privilege effectively and noting that the release proceedings are separate from his pending appeal on the merits of the case.
Navarro’s lawyers argued in their renewed bid to halt the report-to-prison order that the appellate court’s briefing schedule for his appeal would not conclude until mid-July, after the completion of his sentence. They emphasized that Navarro had already served 15 days in jail at the time of their request. However, the Supreme Court ultimately denied Navarro’s application for release pending appeal without providing specific reasoning for their decision. Navarro remains in federal prison in Miami, where he is serving his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress related to his defiance of the subpoena from the House committee investigating the Capitol riot.
