Appeals Court Upholds Order to Get Navarro Docs

Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro's request to retain government records has been rejected by the federal appeals court Wednesday.

"There is no public interest in Navarro’s retention of the records, and Congress has recognized that the public has an interest in the nation's possession and retention of presidential records," the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled in a unanimous two-page order, Politico reported.

Navarro has been ordered by a federal judge to turn over documents to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Navarro has admitted to having 200 to 250 records in his possession from the Trump administration, but he has argued there is no process in place to enforce their surrender to NARA and that surrendering them might violate his Fifth Amendment rights protecting against self-incrimination.

U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly rejected that claim last month, and the D.C. appeals court upheld that decision after Navarro appealed.

Obama-appointed judges Patricia Millett and Robert Wilkins and Trump-appointed Judge Neomi Rao issued the 3-0 ruling rejecting Navarro's request for a stay.

Kollar-Kotelly now is demanding Navarro to turn over the 250 records "on or before" Friday, and conduct additional searches for potential other records by May 8, according to the report.

This legal issue is reportedly unrelated to Navarro's criminal case for contempt of Congress for defying the former House Jan. 6 select committee's subpoena last year.

"Navarro has failed to articulate any cognizable Fifth Amendment injury," the panel wrote in the Wednesday decision, Politico reported. "Because the records were voluntarily created, and he has conceded both that they are in his possession and that they are the property of the United States, the action of physically returning the United States' records to it will not implicate his [Fifth Amendment right]."

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