Trump trade adviser saying no to subpoena

Peter Navarro, who served as trade adviser to former President Donald Trump and who fought with government scientists while helping to orchestrate the administration’s coronavirus response, is refusing to respond to a congressional subpoena for documents, telling lawmakers he is following a “direct order” from Trump not to comply.

House Democrats released Navarro’s written response to their subpoena Saturday, along with a letter asking him to appear Wednesday for a deposition before the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus, which is investigating the federal pandemic response, including whether Trump administration officials interfered with scientific decisions.

“Your blanket refusal to comply with the subpoena in its entirety is improper,” Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., committee chair and No. 3 House Democrat, wrote to Navarro in a letter that the committee made public. “It is abundantly clear that you possess information responsive to the subpoena that is not covered by any colorable claims of executive privilege.”

The demand sets up a clash that could result in a move by House Democrats to hold Navarro in contempt of Congress, if he fails to appear. Last month, another Trump adviser, Steve Bannon, surrendered to authorities after a grand jury indicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to provide information to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Navarro wrote back this past week, citing a public statement by Trump, who had said he was instructing Navarro “to protect executive privilege and not let these unhinged Democrats discredit our great accomplishments.”

Navarro had broad influence over the Trump administration’s response to the pandemic, advising the former president on supply chain issues and how to keep the economy open.

He often pushed unproven treatments and was a vocal critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government’s top infectious disease expert. But Navarro was also prescient about the pandemic and more forward-thinking than some of his White House colleagues.

In late January 2020, he warned administration officials that the coronavirus crisis could cost the United States trillions of dollars and put millions of Americans at risk.