Unlike Republican politicians, these former Trump advisers are finding out that contempt of Congress is a real thing and has real-world consequences.
Source: Politico
Former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro has been ordered to report to a Miami prison on March 19 to begin serving a four month sentence for defying a subpoena from the Jan. 6 select committee.
Navarro, who is urging a federal appeals court to stay the sentence while he attempts to overturn his conviction, faces the prospect of becoming the first top adviser to Donald Trump to serve jail time for an offense related to the effort to subvert the 2020 election.
Navarro, 74, was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide documents and testimony to congressional investigators probing the root causes of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. The committee subpoenaed Navarro in February 2022, and he quickly indicated he would refuse to comply, citing executive privilege. The House held Navarro in contempt two months later, and the Justice Department soon followed suit with criminal charges.
Navarro, an economist who advised Trump on trade issues, was the second former Trump aide convicted for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 panel. Steve Bannon was convicted by a jury in July 2022 for similarly blowing off a subpoena from the committee.
Navarro trying a Hail Mary pass to stay out of prison.
“Dr. Navarro has now been ordered to report to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Miami, on or before 2:00PM EDT on March 19, 2024,” his attorney revealed in court papers late Sunday. “Accordingly, Dr. Navarro respectfully reiterates his request for an administrative stay … Should this Court deny Dr. Navarro’s motion, he respectfully requests an administrative stay so as to permit the Supreme Court review of this Court’s denial.”