Judge denies ex-Trump aide Peter Navarro's request to remain free while he appeals contempt conviction
A federal judge has denied former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro's request to remain out of prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.
Navarro was sentenced to four months in jail and ordered to pay a $9,500 fine in January for defying a congressional subpoena to cooperate with the House Select Committee that investigated the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said in a filing Thursday that Navarro must report to prison on the date ordered by the Bureau of Prisons. Navarro's attorneys had immediately filed an appeal following his sentencing. Navarro had requested to remain out of prison while he appeals.
"Defendant's request for release pending appeal is denied," Mehta wrote. "Unless this Order is stayed or vacated by the D.C. Circuit, Defendant shall report to the designated Bureau of Prisons ('BOP') facility on the date ordered by the BOP."
Navarro was convicted in September on one count of contempt of Congress over his refusal to appear for a deposition in front of the Jan. 6 committee, and on a second count for refusing to produce documents.
Prosecutors had asked for Navarro, who under then-President Trump was director of the White House Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy, to be sentenced to six months behind bars and pay a $100,000 fine for each count. Navarro's attorneys had requested that the court sentence him to no more than six months and require he pay a fine of $100 for each count.
Navarro was the second Trump adviser to be convicted and sentenced for refusing to cooperate with the Jan. 6 panel, after Steve Bannon was found guilty in July 2023 of defying a Jan. 6 committee subpoena.
Bannon was subsequently sentenced to four months in prison, pending an appeal.
The Jan. 6 committee's 17-month probe, which concluded with the release of its final report in December 2022, determined there was a "multi-part conspiracy to overturn the lawful results of the 2020 Presidential election." Among the panel's 11 recommendations were that Congress affirm the way electoral votes are certified; that it bolster efforts to combat violent extremism and threats to election workers; and that it improve the effectiveness of the Capitol Police.
