Navarro is latest Trump aide instructed by former president to defy Covid subpoenas

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Peter Navarro, the former White House trade adviser under president Donald Trump, is the latest member of Mr Trump’s inner circle to announce that he plans to defy the congressional committees investigating their conduct.

The House committee tasked with examining the US handling of the Covid-19 crisis and Mr Navarro had a public exchange of letters this week in which the former Trump White House official cited a statement from Mr Trump last month ordering him not to cooperate with the committee subpoena for his records and documents, as well as his testimony.

“Specifically, in response to the Subpoena, on November 20, 2021, President Trump stated ‘I’m telling Peter Navarro to protect executive privilege and not let these unhinged Democrats discredit our great national accomplishments’,” he wrote, adding: “It is a direct order that I should not comply with the Subpoena”.

The letter provoked an angry response from the committee’s chair, Rep Jim Clyburn, who noted that his committee would take the refusal by Mr Navarro to appear at a deposition set for Wednesday as “willful noncompliance with the subpoena”,

“Your blanket refusal to comply with the subpoena in its entirety is improper,” wrote Mr Clyburn.

“It is abundantly clear that you possess information responsive to the subpoena that is not covered by any colorable claims of executive privilege,” he added.

That line sets up Mr Navarro to be considered for a charge of contempt of Congress, a penalty the House can issue by voting to refer the matter to the Justice Department; congressional subpoenas are legally binding, and the penalties for contempt of Congress can include jail time.

It isn’t clear if Mr Clyburn would be willing to press Mr Navarro with the threat of a contempt charge over the issue of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Trump administration’s handling of the pandemic was widely credited as contributing to the former president’s 2020 election defeat.

The House is set to take a vote on Monday to determine whether it will recommend a charge of contempt for Mark Meadows, the second Trump aide to defy subpoenas issued by the panel investigating the January 6 attack on Congress. Steve Bannon, the former Breitbart News chief, was referred to the Justice Department for a similar charge.

While those who openly defy subpoenas could risk action by the Justice Department, the subpoenas themselves could very well be tied up by legal action. That possibility presents new urgency for the committee and Democrats in general, who would likely see the panel’s work halted should the GOP take over the House in next year’s elections.