Peter Navarro slated to speak at Republican National Convention after prison release: report

Former White House advisor Peter Navarro, who is currently serving a sentence for contempt of Congress, is scheduled to speak at the Republican National Convention next week, just hours after his release.

Sources close to the convention’s schedule revealed on condition of anonymity that Navarro will be in attendance and will be speaking at the event, according to the Associated Press. Navarro will be released from prison in Miami on Wednesday, July 17. He is expected to travel to Milwaukee to attend the convention, which concludes the following day.


 

Navarro was found guilty of being held in contempt of Congress last September for refusing to cooperate with a subpoena from the J6 committee. Before beginning his four-month sentence in March, Navarro said his conviction was the result of the “partisan weaponization of the judicial system.” He had refused to cooperate with the committee, asserting that former President Trump had invoked executive privilege. The court rejected this defense, finding that Navarro could not prove that Trump had actually invoked executive privilege. 

“When I walk in that prison today, the justice system — such as it is — will have done a crippling blow to the constitutional separation of powers and executive privilege,” Navarro said on the day of his sentencing. Navarro previously asked to remain out of prison while he appealed his conviction. However, the federal appeals court in Washington denied his request to delay sentencing, stating that it was unlikely his appeal would reverse his conviction. The Supreme Court also refused to step in, with Chief Justice John Roberts writing in an order that Navarro had “no basis to disagree” with the court.

Former President Trump has previously defended Navarro, saying he is a “good man” who was “treated very unfairly.” Steve Bannon, who was hit with a similar charge, is also serving a four-month sentence after reporting to prison at the beginning of July.