Convicted Trump aide Peter Navarro asks Justice Gorsuch to spring him from federal prison

02 April 2024

It appears that Peter Navarro — who was a trade adviser to former President Donald Trump — is so far not using his four-month federal prison sentence for self-reflection and rehabilitation.

According to Politico legal correspondent Kyle Cheney, Navarro's attorneys, Sam Brand and Stanley Woodward, recently sent a letter to Scott S. Harris, who is a clerk for Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch. The letter is asking Gorsuch to overturn Chief Justice John Roberts' rejection of his earlier motion to remain a free man while he appeals his verdict.

"Dr. Peter K. Navarro self-surrendered to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons on March 19, 2024 and has now served fifteen (15) days of his four (4) month sentence," the letter read. "Of note, on March 26, 2024, the DC Circuit set a briefing schedule in his appeal, providing that briefing will not be concluded until July 19, 2024, after he is scheduled to have served the entirety of his prison sentence."

"Accordingly, we respectfully request your reconsideration of the Chief Justice’s denial," Navarro's attorneys added.

It's unlikely that Gorsuch would grant the request, as the 74-year-old has already been found guilty, been sentenced, and served more than two weeks of his sentence so far. However, the fact that Navarro is continuing to exhaust every last option available to him could be because former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon was found guilty of the same crime Navarro was (contempt of Congress), and handed the same four-month sentence yet remains free on appeal.

Navarro — who had been a close advisor to Trump since he first took office in 2017 — was found to be in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack. The committee, which Navarro called a "kangaroo court," sought the former trade advisor's testimony in regard to his role in attempting to help Trump overturn the 2020 election.

"You are not a victim. You are not the object of a political prosecution. You are not," US District Judge Amit Mehta told Navarro during his sentencing. "You have received every process you are due. Every process."

While he's not the first of Trump's associates to see the inside of a prison cell, Navarro is the first Trump ally to be imprisoned in regard to the attempt to overturn the election.

Other Trump allies who have been sentenced to prison include former Trump attorney and fixer Michael Cohen, who served three years in federal prison for both his role in the hush money scheme Trump is accused of orchestrating and for other charges, including tax evasion. His former campaign chairmen Rick Gates and Paul Manafort were also sentenced to prison, along with Trump's longtime confidant, Roger Stone. Both Manafort and Stone were pardoned by the former president before he left office.

Navarro is currently serving his four-month sentence at Federal Correctional Institution, Miami, which is a minimum-security prison in southwest Miami-Dade County, Florida. Assuming he serves out the remainder of his sentence, he'll be free by August.

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