Peter Navarro, who previously served as an economic aide to former President Donald Trump (R), was released from prison Wednesday after serving a four-month sentence for failing to comply with a Congressional subpoena.
Navarro first reported to jail on March 19 and completed his four-month term at a low security facility in Miami.
In September of 2023, Navarro was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide testimony and documents to the House Select Committee responsible for investigating that events that took place at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Navarro defended his actions in court by arguing that former President Trump had asserted executive privilege over his testimony and the requested documents, thus preventing him from producing them for Congress.
Navarro’s prison consultant, Sam Mangel, told ABC News that Navarro worked in the prison library and resided in the jail’s “elder dorm” during his sentence.
Immediately following his release, Navarro spoke with the Associated Press (AP) on the phone as he waited for his flight from Florida to Milwaukee, where is he scheduled to speak during the third night of the Republican National Convention.
During this interview, Navarro decried how the Biden Administration has “weaponized” the Justice Department and expressed a message of unity ahead of the November election.
“I’m a small part of the bigger issue,” Navarro said. “If we don’t control the government, the government will control us.”
“To win the election, we have to unite not just the Republican party but the entire country,” Navarro continued. “I’m going to reach out to Democrats disenchanted with the radical left.”
“[Many] mainstream Democrats [are] disenfranchised, disengaged and disgusted with the radical left,” said Navarro. “In Trump’s America, people don’t have to worry about food on the table, medicine in the cabinet and a roof over their head.”
“Unity is my message,” he added. “Just like Donald Trump, I am fighting for important principles.”
Another former advisor to Trump, Steve Bannon, was also convicted of contempt of Congress on similar grounds and reported to prison to begin serving his four-month sentence on July 1.
Although Bannon’s legal team sought to extend a stay of this sentence while his appeal continued to work its way through the legal system, a federal judge ruled that he was to report to prison unless another court issued a stay of its own.
The judge went on to identify the a U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals panel’s “wholehearted” rejection of Bannon’s arguments as a key factor in his ruling, appearing to agree with Prosecutor John Crabb’s assertion that it is “very unlikely” Bannon’s conviction will be thrown out.
“I am proud to go to prison,” said Bannon immediately before turning himself in. “If this is what it takes to stand up to tyranny. If this is what it takes to stand up to the Garland corrupt, criminal DOJ. If this is what it takes to stand up to Nancy Pelosi, if this is what it takes to stand up to Joe Biden, I’m proud to do it.”
Why isn’t MERRICK GARLAND behind bars? He has also defied Congressional subpoenas.