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Peter Navarro, President Trump’s former trade adviser, was subpoenaed Thursday by the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.
Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., who chairs the subcommittee, claimed in a memo that Navarro has been uncooperative with lawmakers’ requests and that he was more concerned about politics and challenging the 2020 presidential election than the COVID-19 pandemic, according to The Hill.
“Given his central role in the pandemic response, the importance of the Select Subcommittee’s investigation, and his continued refusal to cooperate voluntarily, this subpoena is necessary,” Clyburn wrote.
House Majority Whip James Clyburn, a Democrat from South Carolina and chairman of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, speaks during a hearing in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2020. Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg via Getty Images
The subpoena demands that Navarro turn over documents to the panel by Dec. 8 and appear before the subcommittee for a deposition by Dec. 15.
Navarro is the second individual subpoenaed by the subcommittee since it was established in April 2020. The first was Steven Hatfill, who is a virologist and former adviser to Navarro.
Navarro condemned the subcommittee’s investigation and their subpoena as a “witch hunt,” telling The Washington Post, “I will be delivering a case of my new book ‘In Trump Time’ to members of the committee which explains why this is indeed a witch hunt.”
Peter Navarro
PETER NAVARRO CALLS FAUCI ‘EVIL,’ SAYS HE TWICE URGED TRUMP TO FIRE HIM
Navarro has been an outspoken critic of Dr. Anthony Fauci. During an interview last month on the Seattle-based Jason Rantz Show, Navarro described the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as “evil” and claimed that he twice urged former President Donald Trump to fire him.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, responds to questions from Senator Rand Paul during the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on July 20, 2021. ((Photo by J. SCOTT APPLEWHITE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images))
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“But it was a mistake for the republic because that man is evil,” Navarro said. “Make no mistake about this. He is evil because he was at the American bureaucracy that used taxpayer dollars” to pursue gain-of-function experiments. He was referring to research that seeks to find new ways to fight disease by rendering pathogens more infectious and lethal.
Fox News’ Bradford Betz contributed to this report.