Peter Navarro, ex-Trump trade adviser, released from prison

Washington — Peter Navarro, who served as a top trade adviser to former President Donald Trump, was released from federal prison on Wednesday after serving a four-month sentence for defying a congressional subpoena, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

Navarro, 75, reported in March to serve his sentence at the federal correctional institute in Miami and was assigned to an 80-person dormitory for older inmates. He is listed among the speakers at this week’s Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, though it’s unclear whether he will address attendees Wednesday or Thursday, the final day of the event.

Navarro’s staff posted on social media that he would be released, writing “the best it yet to come.”

Navarro was found guilty in September of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Investigators were seeking documents and testimony from the former White House official connected to his conduct after the 2020 election and efforts to delay the certification of Electoral College votes.

A federal judge in Washington sentenced Navarro to four months in prison in January and fined him $9,500. But the ex-White House adviser appealed his conviction and the judge’s decision to enforce his sentence during the appeals process. Navarro has argued he believed he was bound by executive privilege when he defied the subpoena, but the judge overseeing his case found there was no evidence that executive privilege was ever invoked.

A three-judge appeals court panel in Washington declined a bid by Navarro to delay his sentence, after which he sought emergency relief from the Supreme Court. Chief Justice John Roberts first rejected his request to remain free during his appeal, and the full court declined a renewed effort by Navarro weeks later.

Navarro was the first former White House official to go to prison following a contempt of Congress conviction, but not the last. Steve Bannon, a Trump ally who served as White House chief strategist, is currently serving a four-month sentence at a federal prison in Connecticut for also refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House select committee. 

He surrendered to the federal correctional institution earlier this month after the Supreme Court turned down a request from Bannon to remain out of prison while he appeals his conviction on two counts of contempt of Congress.