Speaking to reporters before reporting to federal prison at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, the 74-year-old economist said that imprisoning him would destroy the judicial system and “destroy the constitutional separation of powers and executive privilege.” He claimed that it was causing a severe blow.
Mr. Navarro argued that executive privilege protected him from testifying to Congress. This legal protection, often cited but loosely defined, is intended to provide secrecy to the president and White House aides who make tough decisions during the administration, ensuring that private conversations are not known to others. Don't be afraid of being beaten. Publicly scrutinized.
Before going to prison, Navarro insisted he had done nothing wrong by ignoring Congressional subpoenas and said his ultimate goal was to “protect the Constitution, the separation of powers, and executive privilege.” Ta.
“Based on my experience in the White House and reading memos from the Department of Justice's Office of the General Counsel, I knew from the first day I received the subpoena that there was absolute immunity to testify.” he said. Navarro then named a number of other Trump administration aides, including Counselor Kellyanne Conway, General Counsel Donald McGahn, and Deputy Chief of Staff Rick Dearborn, saying, “They did exactly the same thing that I did.'' However, he was never prosecuted.”
But he is different from the witnesses in the investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and Russian interference. — Mr. Navarro has no documentation showing Mr. Trump intended to claim privilege to prevent aides from testifying, and Mr. Trump has never publicly corroborated Mr. Navarro's account. .
“If I had gone to Congress and played piecemeal games with them, I would have damaged the separation of powers and failed to fulfill my obligations,” Navarro said. Prosecutors said that even if executive privilege applies, witnesses must respond to subpoenas and explain what specific testimony or documents they believe are off-limits.
After the Capitol attack, Mr. Navarro published a book about a conspiracy to flip the election to Mr. Trump during the counting of electoral votes that day. He credits the idea to right-wing podcast host and former Trump strategist Stephen K. Bannon.
The House Select Committee tasked with investigating the attack issued subpoenas to Mr. Navarro and Mr. Bannon to detail these plans, but both men ignored them. The two men are currently contesting prison sentences for contempt of Congress. But the district court judge overseeing Mr. Bannon's case granted him release while Mr. Bannon refuses to testify and pursues appellate arguments that are unavailable to Mr. Navarro. He relied on advice from his lawyer.
Mr. Navarro's lawyers, who declined to comment Monday after Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. issued the ruling, said they believed Mr. Navarro needed to assert executive privilege to respond to the Congressional subpoena. He claimed to have refused. They argued that the law is not clear as to whether Congress intended to punish senior presidential advisers in such situations.
Mr. Navarro was sentenced in January. Four months after a jury convicted him of two counts of contempt of Congress. Last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit denied Navarro's request to be released. The three-judge panel said Navarro “has not shown that his appeal may present any significant questions of law or fact.” to revoke his conviction or sentence;
And on Monday, Roberts, who oversees emergency requests from the D.C. Circuit, said he saw no basis to challenge the court's ruling.
That meant Mr. Navarro had until 2 p.m. Tuesday to turn himself in to prison.
Before entering the facility, Navarro continued to claim that he was protected from testifying before the committee on January 6 because he was a White House adviser close to Trump.
“I am the first senior White House adviser in our nation's history to be indicted for this crime,” Navarro said.
“For 50 years, the Department of Justice has maintained the principle of absolute immunity of testimony, but for the first time in my case that somehow changed,” he said.
Navarro argued that Congress could not compel Navarro to testify because, as a senior White House aide, he is an “alter ego of the president” and therefore protected by executive privilege. This privilege was first established by President George Washington during negotiations in 1796. The Jay Treaty prevents White House aides from discussing conversations with the president.
However, Washington insisted on a limited use of executive privilege, invoking it only during Jay Treaty negotiations to protect national security and the country's ability to negotiate future international treaties.
In a speech outside the prison, Navarro remained a firm supporter of Trump, attacked President Biden's policies and urged others to vote for Trump in the November election.
Navarro said he is “not nervous” about going to prison. “I received tremendous support from Donald Trump and his team.”
Mr. Navarro, wearing a black T-shirt and gray jacket, also complained at length about the Justice Department. He repeated baseless conspiracy theories that the January 6 attack was instigated by undercover FBI agents and Democrats.
Navarro also cited that Trump is facing multiple investigations and said the Justice Department is “going after Donald Trump with the same tactics, methods and strategies that they used to get me there today.” “There is,” he accused. The former president and his allies have repeatedly made baseless claims that the Justice Department is being armed against them.
“I'm angry,” Navarro said, “and I'm afraid for this country because what this country is doing should have a chilling effect on all Americans, regardless of party.” '' he added. They come for me. They can come pick you up. ”
Navarro has vowed to take the case back to the Supreme Court once his sentence is complete.
Ann E. Marimow contributed to this report.
