Donald Trump lavished praise on Peter Navarro Wednesday as his former White House adviser prepared to report to prison after being convicted of contempt of Congress.
The former president urged his supporters to preorder Navarro's book, due out in July from the MAGA imprint Winning Time, just days before the former economic adviser is expected to report to a Miami prison on March 19 for refusing to comply with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"Peter Navarro had strong views on Protecting our Economy against the assault from Foreign Countries all over the World," Trump posted on Truth Social. "He was an absolute master at not allowing the U.S. to get 'ripped off' by this onslaught. Peter did his job well, he did it faithfully, and he loved our Country. His Book should be studied, and what he says should be highly respected."
"Peter Navarro is a Patriot who has been treated very badly, but he continues forward," he added. "In the end, there will be Victory!"
The 74-year-old Navarro was convicted last year on two counts of contempt of Congress after he failed to produce documents subpoenaed by the House select committee and skipped his deposition. He was sentenced to four months in prison.
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His book, The New MAGA Deal, will be released July 16 by the publishing house which is run by former Trump campaign aide Sergio Gor and his friend Donald Trump Jr.
Other industry executives suspect one reason the imprint was launched was to allow Trump to avoid the humiliation of being paid a smaller advance for his presidential memoir than Barack Obama, who sold his book rights along with his wife Michelle to Penguin Random House for more than $60 million, and to get around fact-checking that would be required by a major publishing house.
Navarro's lawyers have asked U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta to put his sentence on hold while he appealed his conviction, but the judge ruled last month that the appeal does not raise a “substantial question of law” regarding executive prison and did not warrant his release.
