A federal judge handed Peter Navarro a truly brutal loss today when the loyal former Trump aide’s desperate plea to stay out of prison while fighting through his appeal process was denied.
Last month, Navarro, the former assistant and staunchly loyal ally to now ex-President Donald Trump, was sentenced to four months in prison on Contempt of Congress charges related to his blatant refusal to cooperate with an investigation into the deadly January 6th Capitol insurrection.
Navarro was subpoenaed for documents as well as a sworn deposition by the now-disbanded January 6th House Select Committee during the peak of their investigation into the Capitol attack and, more specifically, the former president’s role in inciting that deadly violence. Peter infamously refused to cooperate with the congressional subpoena, citing executive privilege under his former boss.
The ex-Trump aide is, of course, appealing his conviction through the higher courts and had requested that he be allowed to remain free while he fought through the appeals process.
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Today, Judge Amit Mehta denied that request and ordered Navarro to report to prison and begin serving his sentence when ordered to do so by the Bureau of Prisons. Peter’s only way out is if Washington’s federal appeals court steps in to supersede Mehta’s order.
Judge Mehta ruled that there were no “substantial” questions of law contained in Navarro’s proposed appeal that would allow him to skirt his prison sentence.
Among the complaints contained in his appeal, Navarro pulls a page straight from the Trump Playbook, claiming that his entire prosecution was motivated by a politically biased witch hunt. Mehta was having none of it, noting in his ruling that Navarro provided “no actual proof” to support his claim.
Mehta, who was appointed to the Washington federal court by former President Barack Obama, ruled, “Defendant’s cynical, self-serving claim of political bias poses no question at all, let alone a ‘substantial’ one.”
Featured image via screen capture
