The Supreme Court on Monday declined to weigh Peter Navarro’s bid to reverse a court order directing him to turn over hundreds of emails sent during his tenure as an adviser in the first Trump administration.
The former trade adviser to President-elect Trump, who will join his second administration in a similar role, was sued in 2022 by the Justice Department for emails sent from a personal encrypted account after he refused to produce them to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA).
The Presidential Records Act requires any records generated or received while working in an official capacity — including those sent or received on unofficial accounts — be turned over at the end of an administration.
Navarro wrote in his petition to the justices that he initially planned to comply with NARA’s request but later sought immunity to produce the documents after he was indicted for evading a congressional subpoena.
“Given the related nature of the documents sought by NARA and the allegations against him, Dr. Navarro sought immunity for the production of Presidential records to avoid their use against him in the pending criminal matter,” his lawyers said in the petition.
Navarro was charged with two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a subpoena from the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. He was convicted last year and sentenced to four months in prison, which he completed in July.
Two lower courts ruled against Navarro and ordered him to turn over the records. A three-judge panel on the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals found “no public interest” in his retention of the records.
In February, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly threatened to hold Navarro in contempt of court for defying her order to turn over the documents.
The Justice Department waived its right to respond to Navarro’s petition.
