Ex-Trump adviser must report to prison on 19 March for defying January 6 panel

Former Trump adviser Peter Navarro must report to prison on 19 March to begin a four-month sentence for defying the House January 6 committee, his lawyers said.

Navarro, 74, is an economist turned trade adviser who became closely involved in attempts to overturn Donald Trump’s defeat by Joe Biden in the 2020 election, efforts that culminated in the deadly attack on Congress of 6 January 2021.

Navarro openly boasted of his role in an election subversion plot he called the “Green Bay Sweep”. The House committee subpoenaed him. He refused to cooperate, claiming executive privilege covered interactions with Trump as president.

Held in contempt by the House, Navarro was charged by the Department of Justice and found guilty last September. He was sentenced in January this year.

“You are not a victim, you are not the object of a political prosecution,” the judge in the case said then. “These are circumstances of your own making.”

Navarro asked to be spared jail while appealing his sentence, a request the judge denied.

Late on Sunday, an attorney for Navarro said in court papers he had been “ordered to report to the custody of the Bureau of Prisons, FCI Miami, on or before 2pm ET on March 19, 2024”.

The lawyer referred to his client as “Dr Navarro”, highlighting an academic career which saw Navarro rise to prominence as a China hawk but also be exposed for extensively quoting a source, Ron Vara, that turned out to be an anagram of his own name.

The lawyer wrote: “Dr Navarro respectfully reiterates his request for an administrative stay … should this court deny Dr Navarro’s motion, he respectfully requests an administrative stay so as to permit the supreme court review of this court’s denial.”

The filing said Navarro was still citing executive privilege as reason not to comply with Congress. The justice department has called his arguments “meritless”.

If Navarro does report to prison, he will be the most senior aide to Trump – who faces 91 criminal charges himself – yet to sit behind bars.

The former Trump campaign chair and White Houses strategist Steve Bannon was given his own four-month sentence for contempt of Congress, for refusing to co-operate with the January 6 committee.

A federal court is considering Bannon’s appeal.