Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro wrote to a House committee investigating the Trump administration’s response to the fall 2020 COVID-19 surge that he will defy their subpoena for documents on a “direct order” from Donald Trump.
The direct order cited by Navarro in his letter to Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC), the committee chairman, is a public statement Trump issued last month urging “Peter Navarro to protect executive privilege and not let these unhinged Democrats discredit our great accomplishments.” House Democrats released Navarro’s response to the November subpoena on Sunday, along with Clyburn’s reply, which included him scorning the ex-adviser. “Your blanket refusal to comply with the subpoena in its entirety is improper,” Clyburn wrote. “It is abundantly clear that you possess information responsive to the subpoena that is not covered by any colorable claims of executive privilege.”
Navarro fought with government scientists over the federal response to the pandemic and was accused of prioritizing Trump’s election-fraud lies. The former trade adviser risking being held in contempt of Congress follows former Trump strategist Stephen Bannon being indicted on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to share information to a House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
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