Peter Navarro, a former White House aide to President Donald Trump, has been ordered to report to a Miami prison on March 19 to begin serving his sentence. Navarro plans to continue his appeals to try to overturn his conviction.
Navarro was sentenced in January to four months in prison for not complying with a subpoena issued by the January 6 House Select Committee. He was convicted in the case in September, being found guilty of two counts of contempt of Congress.
According to Politico, Navarro has urged a federal appeals court to stay his sentence while he works to overturn his conviction.
"Dr. Navarro has now been ordered to report to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Miami, on or before 2:00PM EDT on March 19, 2024," Navarro’s attorney wrote in court papers late Sunday.
"Accordingly, Dr. Navarro respectfully reiterates his request for an administrative stay … Should this Court deny Dr. Navarro’s motion, he respectfully requests an administrative stay so as to permit the Supreme Court review of this Court’s denial."
In early February, United States District Court Judge Amit Mehta rejected his appeal to remain free while working to overturn the conviction, and ordered him to report to prison.
"Defendant insists that his prosecution was 'motivated by political bias'," Mehta wrote, "yet, he offers no actual proof to support that contention ... If anything, the record demonstrates just the opposite."
Mehta argued that Navarro's "cynical, self-serving claim of political bias poses no question at all, let alone a 'substantial' one" needed to fulfill the requirements for release.
Navarro’s team argued during the sentencing hearing that their client believed he could not comply with the committee’s subpoena due to executive privilege.
"When I received that congressional subpoena…I had an honest belief that the privilege had been invoked," Navarro said to US District Judge Amit Mehta.