Supreme Court Denies Peter Navarro’s Bid to Delay Prison Term

The Supreme Courtroom rejected former Trump White Home aide Peter Navarro’s emergency petition to delay his jail sentence on March 18.

The choice comes a day earlier than Mr. Navarro is about to report back to federal jail to serve out his four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena.

In issuing the order, Supreme Courtroom Chief Justice John Roberts stated he had “no foundation to disagree” with the appeals court docket ruling, although he added that the discovering wouldn’t have an effect on the result of Mr. Navarro’s enchantment.

Mr. Navarro was convicted in September on two counts of contempt of Congress after he didn’t adjust to a subpoena from the Home Jan. 6 choose committee.

His preliminary request to delay his sentence pending enchantment was denied in February by U.S. District Choose Amit Mehta, who held that the commerce adviser to former President Donald Trump didn’t current any substantial questions of regulation in his movement that might probably yield a greater end result.

“Appellant has not proven that his enchantment presents substantial questions of regulation or truth prone to lead to reversal, new trial, a sentence that doesn’t embody a time period of imprisonment, or a diminished sentence of imprisonment that’s lower than the period of time already served plus the anticipated period of the enchantment course of,” the three-judge panel dominated.

“For the primary time in our nation’s historical past, a senior presidential advisor has been convicted of contempt of Congress after asserting government privilege over a congressional subpoena,” Mr. Navarro’s attorneys wrote.

“Navarro is indisputably neither a flight threat nor a hazard to public security ought to he be launched pending enchantment,” they added.

In a March 15 letter, Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) urged fellow Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), chairman of the Home Administration Oversight Committee, to “conduct additional oversight” over the committee’s resolution to suggest contempt of Congress prices towards former Trump administration officers.

“As you’re probably conscious, former White Home Director of the Workplace of Commerce and Manufacturing Coverage Peter Navarro has been ordered to report back to jail subsequent week based mostly on his refusal to adjust to the calls for of the committee that has been proven to be illegitimately constituted and hopelessly tainted,” Mr. Biggs wrote.

The congressman instructed The Epoch Occasions final week that his concern was that the committee’s work was influenced by political bias.

“That Mr. Navarro is required to report back to federal jail for refusing to adjust to an illegitimate committee’s calls for is indicative of our nation’s two-tiered justice system,” Mr. Biggs stated.

“Throwing political opponents behind bars is a merciless transfer extra prone to be seen in communist China and banana republics world wide. We should swiftly convey this follow to an finish if we hope to guard our republic.”

Mr. Navarro has been ordered to give up himself to the Federal Correctional Establishment in Miami by no later than 2 p.m. on March 19.

In the meantime, the excessive court docket is about to listen to oral arguments subsequent month in one other case involving Jan. 6—President Trump’s federal election obstruction case.

The previous president’s authorized workforce holds that presidential immunity exempts him from prosecution within the election case being introduced towards him by Justice Division particular counsel Jack Smith. Additionally they contend that, based mostly on double jeopardy rules, President Trump can’t be prosecuted over conduct for which he was already impeached and acquitted by the U.S. Senate.

The Supreme Courtroom will hear these arguments through the week of April 22.

Sam Dorman, Savannah Hulsey Pointer, Zachary Stieber, and The Related Press contributed to this report.