Former Trump aide Peter Navarro ordered to prison next week

WASHINGTON -- Peter Navarro, once an economic adviser to former President Donald Trump, has been instructed to appear at a Miami prison on March 19 after being sentenced to four months in prison for hindering the investigation of the Jan 6 Capitol riot, according to court papers released Sunday.

Navarro is requesting a federal appeals court to intervene and halt the sentence during his appeal process.

Last year, he was found guilty on two charges of contempt of Congress for declining to provide documents and testimony to congressional investigators examining the underlying causes of the Jan 6 Capitol attack.

The House Jan 6 select committee held him in contempt for defying a subpoena, and the Justice Department later pursued criminal charges against him, making him the second former Trump aide to be convicted for failing to cooperate with the Jan 6 panel, following Steve Bannon.

The Jan 6 committee issued a subpoena to Navarro mainly regarding his collaboration with Bannon on a strategy intended to cause delays in the Jan. 6, 2021 session of Congress, during which lawmakers were to certify Joe Biden's election victory, according to Politico.

Navarro also prepared three reports related to the election, promoting mostly debunked claims of fraud.

The latest development came as the 2024 US presidential election enters a new phase, with US President Joe Biden, the Democratic incumbent, and Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee, each expanding their lead and essentially securing their party's presidential nominations on Super Tuesday last week.

Trump himself is embroiled in four criminal cases, facing a total of 91 felony charges, and has recently been fined hundreds of millions of dollars in two civil cases. He denies all charges and accuses Biden and the Democratic Party of ongoing "political witch hunts" against him.

Analysts believe that as the election campaign unfolds, it may further intensify political disputes and public divisions in the country, potentially leading to more chaos.