Former White House adviser Peter Navarro began a four-month prison sentence on Tuesday due to his refusal to meet with congressional leaders regarding the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Navarro helped lead ex-President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
The 74-year-old economist was convicted of contempt of Congress in September after failing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee investigating the violence that occurred as lawmakers voted to certify the presidential election at the start of 2021.
Navarro had unsuccessfully tried to convince a federal judge he was exempt from speaking with congressional investigators because the 45th president invoked executive privilege.
On Tuesday, he became the first senior Trump administration official to see prison time in connection to Jan. 6.
“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 told reporters before entering the Miami federal prison where he’ll serve his sentence.
Navarro is appealing his conviction, which he called an act of politically motivated “lawfare” waged by Democrats. He previously asked to stay free while he appealed, but Washington’s federal appeals court denied that bid. The Supreme Court on Monday also declined to halt his sentence.
Former White House strategist Steve Bannon was also found guilty of blowing off the bipartisan Select Committee to Investigate the Jan. 6 Attack on the U.S. Capital, but was allowed to remain free while appealing his conviction.
More than 700 defendants have had their cases adjudicated and received sentences for criminal activity on Jan. 6, according to the Justice Department. Most of those defendants have been incarcerated.
With News Wire Services
