Trump ally begins serving historic prison sentence

Former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro is preparing to enter a federal

prison

in Miami. I want to listen and hear what he just said. When I enter that

prison

today. The justice system, as it stands, will have dealt a devastating blow to the constitutional separation of powers and executive privilege. The second related story has to do with the rise of legal warfare and the partisan militarization of our justice system. Which we have seen Trump in this country with a vengeance since the arrival of Donald John Trump as president and that continues to get worse. Let me walk you through those two stories.

And again, I hope that, as journalists, you'll do some background, some research. I ask you to verify everything I say today and write here the most important stories, which I think are the most important. So let's talk about some facts here. I am the first senior White House adviser in the history of our republic to be charged with this alleged crime. And I say alleged because for hundreds of years this has not been a crime. And for 50 years, the Department of Justice has maintained the principle of absolute testimonial immunity. And it was only with my case that somehow that changed.

And this is where the task is, because the great constitutional separation of powers is these. Can Congress force a senior White House adviser, what they call a president's alter ego, to testify before Congress under executive privilege? It goes back to George Washington and his comments before Congress on Treaty J. And he said very simply and clearly, succinctly and elegantly, that in writing to Congress he said, "I cannot order you, as members of Congress, to come to see me". You can't order me to come to you. And the reason is the constitutional separation of powers. And as legal doctrines have evolved, the Supreme Court has been very adamant about the sanctity of executive privilege.

That privilege has been extended to the so-called alter egos of the president, which is what I am as one of his top advisors. And the principle here related to effective presidential decision-making is simply that if a president does not have the capacity among his advisors to achieve it. Very good, we will continue listening to Peter Navarro a little more. He is entering federal prison. Kaitlan Collins is with me here. You've been doing a lot of reporting on this story. He received a legal subpoena from the United States Congress for the select committee to testify and turn over the documents.

He refused to comply. He went through all the courts, including the Supreme Court, which just the other day dismissed his appeal to avoid going to jail. However, he continues to insist that what he did was legal. Well, Wolf, I mean, he's saying one thing that's very true, that this isn't happening, that this is the first time this has happened. Good. A senior White House official. However, what happened in his case is different even from that of Steve Bannon, who was charged and convicted of a very similar crime for failing to respond to a House investigation on January 6.

Citation. The difference is that the court determined that Peter Navarro, no matter how much he talks about how he was a White House official, lost all ability to say that he had executive privileges in the judicial system once he received this position. And he still had to appear before Congress and deliver documents. And he didn't do it. Now, there was a period long ago when Congress would lock people up on its own when officials didn't respond to subpoenas from it. We are no longer in that era. And it's very difficult for the Department of Justice to decide that it wants to bring a case like this and take it to court.

But what happened here is that you just didn't have this bubble of executive privilege as a protection. And the court system said this is a process that the Department of Justice can initiate. At the end of the day, it's good for Congress that they can implement measures like this. Peter Navarro says it's very bad for the executive branch, but this is just proof of the consequences of what happens when you simply don't run for Congress. And the courts rejected all of his appeals. During these many, many, many months, and now that is why he will now himself spend at least four months in jail.

Very good, Caitlin, Paul, thank you very much. We start today with the latest news from Florida. Peter Navarro, Donald Trump's former top White House adviser, surrendered to a federal prison in Miami where he will serve a four-month

sentence

for refusing to comply with a congressional subpoena. It is the first time a former White House official has been jailed for contempt of Congress. As expected, the scene was a spectacle because it carries weight, not only because of the precedent it sets, but also because of the legal and political risks that are at stake for Donald Trump and his current candidacy for the White House.

CNN's Randi Kaye is live for us outside the federal prison in Miami. Randi, Hello, Daniel. Yeah, it was quite a scene here. He came out swinging. He spoke for about 30 minutes. And for much of that time, Dana criticized Democrats, the January Sixth Committee, the judge in her case. As you know, he was convicted in September after failing to comply with a House Select Committee subpoena. They wanted him to come testify and hand over some documents. He refused to do so. And then he asked the Supreme Court, of course, to let him remain free while he challenged that conviction.

But they rejected it. You mentioned, of course, that he is the first former White House official who is now expected to be behind bars for contempt of Congress and that he is expected to serve about four months. He said this is going to be harder for his family than it is for him. He said that he was not so afraid of jail, but this is also something more than what he said at this press conference. Every person who has led me down this path to that prison is a freely convicted, Trump-hating idiot. Let me guide you through it.

It all starts with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who forms the J-6 committee and flouts all the rules. Poorly constituted, improperly authorized and illicit committee. She puts in seven Democrats, each of them fact-checking. Every single one of them went after Donald Trump through two impeachments and the Russia hoax and all they want to do is stop Trump. And Dana, right after that press conference, got in her car with her lawyer and drove down the road to the prison where she was going to meet a security guard. They let us know and they will process it and take it in his car to the facility.

And there will be no photographs or anything like that. But then he is offici

ally

in prison custody. His prison counselor also told us that he is expected to remain there during his stay in an air-conditioned dormitory where there will be about 80 elderly inmates. He is 74 years old. And Navarro is also expected to have to take classes and work. His prison consultant told us that he hopes to be able to work inside, given the warmer conditions here in Florida. But it will certainly be a difficult time for him. There Dana, a question and a day for the history books.

Randi, thank you very much for that report.