Dec. 16 (UPI) — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear an effort by Donald Trump adviser Peter Navarro to keep his work-related emails during the first Trump administration from the National Archives and Record Administration.
Navarro, who has already served four months in prison for refusing to testify or provide documents to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, charged that federal law requiring to turn over emails to the archives is not enforceable.
The Presidential Records Act that gives the National Archives control of presidential records at the end of administrations was passed during the Watergate era after then-President Richard Nixon tried to destroy White House tapes that incriminated him in the Watergate complex burglary cover-up.
Attorneys for Navarro said he initially planned to provide the documents in compliance with the law but moved for immunity from being required to produce the records after his indictment for avoiding the subpoena.
“Given the related nature of the document sought by [National Archives and Records Administration] 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,” they wrote.
Before the Supreme Court’s refusal, a U.S. district court and the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Navarro’s claims. The appeals court said there was “no public interest” in having Navarro keep the records from the public.
Navarro is set to return as an adviser to Trump when he takes office in 2025 as senior counselor for trade and manufacturing.
