Ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro rants he’ll ‘proudly do my time’ as he reports to prison
Former Trump White House trade adviser Peter Navarro surrendered himself at a Miami federal prison Tuesday, vowing to “proudly” serve out a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress.
During a lengthy press conference outside the prison gates, the 74-year-old Navarro cast himself as a martyr who had done his duty to the republic by defying a congressional subpoena from a House select committee probing the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.
“Every person who has taken me on this road to that prison is a friggin’ Democrat and a Trump-hater,” fumed Navarro, now the highest-ranking former member of former President Donald Trump’s administration to be tossed behind bars.
“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,” he added while laying out grievances against former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), Congress, and the Justice Department.
In September, a jury convicted Navarro on two counts of contempt of Congress after he ignored a subpoena for documents and testimony, citing executive privilege.
Navarro is appealing his conviction, but has exhausted all of his avenues to stay out of the clink in the meantime.
On Monday, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts dealt the final blow and rejected Navarro’s last-ditch appeal to remain free.
Navarro was adamant that he was merely “doing my duty to this country” by adhering to executive privilege, which grants a president authority to withhold certain material from Congress.
The courts determined executive privilege didn’t apply to Navarro.
“I will walk proudly and in there and do my time,” the ex-trade adviser proclaimed before pitching his forthcoming book, “The New MAGA Deal,” which comes out in the summer.
In the run-up to his subpoena, Navarro seemingly taunted the Jan. 6 committee, suggesting that it wouldn’t dare reach out to him because he had evidence to clear Trump of wrongdoing in connection to the riot.
“They don’t want any part of me. I exonerate Trump and [former White House strategist Steve] Bannon,” he told the Daily Beast in 2021.
The panel called his bluff and sought information from him about his so-called “Green Bay sweep” plan to tip the 2020 election to Trump.
Navarro is not the only Trump administration alum who bucked a subpoena and was held in contempt of Congress.
Bannon did as well and was found guilty in 2022 of two contempt charges and ordered to serve four months in prison and pay a $6,500 fine. Bannon has appealed that conviction and has yet to serve the sentence.
Congress also referred former White House deputy chief of staff for communications Dan Scavino and former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows to the Justice Department for potential prosecution, though the DOJ declined to pursue charges.
