Judge denies Trump aide Peter Navarro’s bid to remain out of jail while appealing contempt of Congress case
- Trump White House official Navarro was sentenced last month to 4 months in jail for refusing to cooperate with January 6 Capitol attack investigation
- He had asked to be free while he fights that conviction in higher courts but on Thursday US District Judge Amit Mehta denied the request
A federal judge on Thursday denied Trump White House official Peter Navarro’s bid to remain out of prison while he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction for refusing to cooperate with an investigation into the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Navarro was sentenced last month to four months behind bars after being found guilty of defying a subpoena for documents and a deposition from the House January 6 Committee. He had asked to be free while he fights that conviction in higher courts.
But US District Judge Amit Mehta denied that request, saying Navarro must report to serve his sentence on the date ordered by the Bureau of Prisons, unless the federal appeal court steps in to block Mehta’s order.
The judge said Navarro has not shown that any of the issues he will raise on appeal are “substantial” questions of law.
Among other things, Navarro has argued that his prosecution was motivated by political bias, but Mehta said Navarro had offered “no actual proof” to support that claim.
“Defendant’s cynical, self-serving claim of political bias poses no question at all, let alone a ‘substantial’ one,” wrote Mehta, who was appointed to the federal court in Washington by former president Barack Obama.
