Former Trump White House adviser Peter Navarro must report to prison after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to stave off the jail term as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction.
Navarro is due to report to prison in Miami to serve a four-month federal prison sentence for his conviction of misdemeanor charges for defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attacks.
He requested to stay free while he appealed the conviction. Navarro’s attorney declined to comment to Fox News Digital about the matter.
Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts said he had “no basis to disagree” with the appeals court ruling that he begin his sentence.
DOJ RECOMMENDS 6 MONTH SENTENCE FOR FORMER TRUMP ADVISER PETER NAVARRO
Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro talks to the media as he arrives at U.S. Federal Courthouse in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to halt his prison term. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)
Navarro, who served as former President Trump’s trade adviser, was the second Trump aide convicted of misdemeanor contempt of Congress charges. Former White House adviser Steve Bannon previously received a four-month sentence but was allowed to stay free pending appeal by U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, who was appointed by Trump.
Navarro said he couldn’t cooperate with the committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack because Trump had invoked executive privilege, an argument which lower courts have rejected.
FORMER TRUMP ADVISER NAVARRO CONVICTED OF CONTEMPT AFTER DEFYING JAN. 6 SUBPOENA
Peter Navarro, an advisor to former U.S. President Donald Trump, speaks to reporters as he is surrounded by protesters after being found guilty of contempt of Congress. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“When I received that congressional subpoena, the second, I had an honest belief that the privilege had been invoked, and I was torn. Nobody in my position should be put in conflict between the legislative branch and the executive branch. Is that the lesson of this entire proceeding? Get a letter and a lawyer? I think in a way it is,” Navarro said at a January sentencing hearing. “I am disappointed with a process where a jury convicted me, and I was unable to provide a defense, one of the most important elements of our justice system.”
He described the attack on the U.S. Capitol as “one of the worst days of my life.”
Images and videos are seen on a screen as the House Selects committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol meets to vote on contempt charges against former President Donald Trump’s advisers Peter Navarro and Dan Scavino on Capitol Hill on Monday, March 28, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
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The lower courts found that Navarro couldn’t actually prove Trump had invoked executive privilege.
The high court is also preparing to hear arguments on whether Trump himself has presidential immunity from charges alleging he interfered in the 2020 election.
Fox News Digital’s Danielle Wallace and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
