Navarro says he could be in prison ‘within less than 60 days’
Peter Navarro, a former adviser to former President Trump, predicted he could be in prison “within less than 60 days,” for his conviction of contempt of Congress.
A federal judge sentenced the ex-Trump staffer on Thursday to four months in prison for refusing to comply with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He had been found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress in September — one for failing to produce documents related to the probe and a second for not attending his deposition.
“So I have said from the outset and on this show that I fully expect this case to go to the Supreme Court; we appealed it within minutes of the prison sentence. The prison sentence was not my judgment … quite harsh,” Navarro said Tuesday in an interview with Newsmax host Eric Bolling on “The Balance.”
“So it’s hard to square that, but I could be in prison within less than 60 days,” Navarro added. “That’s what the government, the Biden regime, the [Attorney General] Merrick Garland Department of Justice wants. We’ll see what the judge has to say about it.”
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta said last week he would determine whether Navarro’s sentence will be deferred after his counsel submits arguments in writing.
Prosecutors contended Navarro displayed an “utter disregard” for the House Jan. 6 committee’s investigation and “utter contempt for the rule of law.” Navarro was also ordered to pay a $9,500 fine.
His defense argued Navarro believed he should not comply with the House committee’s subpoena due to executive privilege.
Navarro has repeatedly claimed the prosecution is motivated by politics and has argued the charges are a violation of the Constitution’s separation of powers.
He nodded to this claim Tuesday, telling Bolling, “I didn’t want this. But I’m at a moment in history where the United States versus Peter K. Navarro will determine the future of the constitutional separation of powers as it pertains to something that goes back to George Washington, which is the use of executive privilege as a way to ensure the best kinds of decisionmaking in the Oval Office.”
“The concept, which is enshrined already in the Supreme Court, is that if folks like me — the highest advisers to the president — can provide the president with confidential information without worry of adding a leak over to a partisan legislature. He won’t get the best information, and he has to be protected too,” he continued.
Navarro argued he is the “appetizer” for the eventual goal to get Trump in prison and prevent him from winning reelection.
“If I can go into prison … I’m telling you, everybody watching this show … needs to wrap their head around the idea that they can put Donald Trump in prison,” he said. “They’re putting me in prison for doing what I thought was my duty out of honor to this country and duty to my oath of honor.”
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