President Donald Trump’s former adviser Peter Navarro has filed a lawsuit against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and the Democrats’ Jan. 6 House Select Committee.
Navarro is suing Pelosi and the Jan. 6 committee, arguing that they have no right to hold him in contempt of Congress for refusing to testify before Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and her anti-Trump allies.
“Repeated abuses by partisans and political score settlers like those on the Committee have institutionalized a partisan weaponization of Congress’ investigatory powers that now threatens the delicate balance and separation of powers between the legislative, judicial, and executive branches of our government,” the lawsuit states.
“The committee’s members along with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi over a more than five year period have been engaged in a ‘repeatable strategic game’ of ‘gotcha’ and punishment that threatens to reduce the institutions of executive privilege and testimonial immunity to ping pong balls of partisan politics.
“In this strategic ping pong game, whichever party controls both the House of Representatives and White House will effectively weaponize Congress’s investigatory powers in ways designed to: (1) punish political rivals and (2) deny individuals the opportunity to effectively run for political office or serve in government,” he wrote.
Navarro also revealed that he has been subpoenaed by federal prosecutors.
He claims it is over his refusal to comply with a February subpoena he received from the House Select Committee.
But many reporters say it would be an odd move for DOJ to issue a subpoena in that case so it may be about something else.
NEWS: Trump White House aide Peter NAVARRO says FBI agents served him last week with a grand jury subpoena related to Jan. 6.
Details w/ @nicholaswu12 https://t.co/PQbs5Miijg
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 31, 2022
Navarro described the subpoena in a draft lawsuit he began circulating Monday night and says he intends to file in federal court this week. He says it’s connected to his decision to refuse to tetify to the Jan .6 select committee.https://t.co/PQbs5Miijg
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 31, 2022
But if it’s related to his potential contempt of Congress, it woudl be an odd move for DOJ to subpoena him. He also notes that the subpoena sought information about his contacts with Trump.https://t.co/PQbs5Miijg
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 31, 2022
From CNN:
The grand jury subpoena was revealed in a draft copy of a lawsuit obtained by CNN that Navarro says he intends to file against the House select committee, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the US attorney for the District of Columbia.
Navarro is representing himself in the suit, which has not yet been filed in court, and is seeking to convince a federal judge to block both the House committee’s subpoena and the grand jury’s subpoena, which he says are unlawful.
Navarro said in the draft lawsuit that the grand jury subpoena was served on Thursday when two FBI special agents “banged loudly on my door in the early morning hours.”
From Politico:
In a draft lawsuit that Navarro began circulating Monday, the former Trump trade adviser said “two FBI special agents banged loudly on my door in the early morning hours” on May 26 and served him a subpoena signed by Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney for Washington, D.C.
