Peter Navarro has lost his bid to be released from prison pending his appeal of his 2023 conviction for contempt of Congress. Navarro, who served as a trade advisor to former President Donald Trump, was convicted in 2023 for failing to comply with a J6 Committee subpoena.
If this latest news sounds familiar, it’s because this marks the second time Navarro’s application was denied. Bob Hoge reported on the initial denial in March:
Chief Justice John Roberts refused to delay Peter Navarro’s four-month prison sentence Monday, meaning the former Trump trade advisor must report to a minimum-security federal Bureau of Prisons satellite camp in Miami Tuesday. The case fell into Roberts’ hands because he is in charge of emergency matters arising from the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals.
Navarro was accused by the duplicitous January 6 Committee of plotting with another former Trump advisor, Steve Bannon, to block Congress from certifying the 2020 election results. He was subpoenaed by the committee but refused to appear and was convicted in 2023 of two counts of contempt of Congress — one for failing to produce documents and another for skipping his deposition.
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Navarro’s bid this time was rejected by Justice Neil Gorsuch in a brief, one-sentence order:
The application for release pending appeal addressed to Justice Gorsuch and referred to the Court is denied.
Navarro’s effort was part of a procedural move that has rarely been successful.
In an emergency request last month, Navarro asked the Supreme Court to let him remain free while he challenged his conviction at the federal appeals court in Washington, DC. Chief Justice John Roberts denied that request on March 18, and Navarro reported to prison the following day.
Attempting a procedural maneuver that has not worked in decades, Navarro then resubmitted the request to Justice Neil Gorsuch, Trump’s first high-court nominee. Supreme Court rules allow parties whose emergency applications are denied by a single justice to resubmit to another justice.
Gorsuch referred the request to the full court, which considered it during its closed door conference on Friday. The court denied the request on Monday without comment.
Following his conviction, Navarro was sentenced to four months in prison. His appeal of the conviction remains pending.
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