June 7th, 2022, By Steven Nelson
New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, the No. 3 House Republican, on Tuesday, alleged that President Biden improperly leaned on the Justice Department to bring charges of contempt of Congress against Peter Navarro, who was President Donald Trump’s White House trade adviser.
Navarro, 72, was arrested last week after he refused to cooperate with the House select committee that’s investigating last year’s Capitol riot. Such charges are rare and follow Biden’s remark last year that witnesses who flout the House panel should be prosecuted.
Stefanik was asked about the case on a press call focused mostly on slamming the Democrat-led committee, which will hold a primetime hearing Thursday in an attempt to revive public interest in the mob violence committed by Trump supporters, who disrupted certification of Biden’s victory in the Electoral College.
“Peter Navarro talks about how he was put in leg irons, handcuffs, strip-searched, not given any food or water and put in solitary confinement,” a journalist told Stefanik. “I’m wondering what your reaction [is] or perhaps what you would compare the treatment of Peter Navarro too. And does the House plan to take any particular action on this whether it would be a hearing or an inquiry?”
Stefanik, a 37-year-old Harvard graduate, replied, “Well, I’m very concerned that Joe Biden is using his Department of Justice as a political arm attacking his political opponents.”
The House Republican Conference chairwoman offered no additional commentary.
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