White House adviser Peter Navarro blasted House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a longtime Trump ally, saying the lawmaker hasn’t done enough to investigate the “weaponization” of the Justice Department against President Trump after he took office in 2017.
Speaking with reporters at the White House, Mr. Navarro praised Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, for looking into the origins of the debunked Russia collusion probe, which purportedly sought to uncover ties between Russia and Mr. Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
He said Mr. Grassley is “doing a great job” and has been issuing subpoenas.
Mr. Navarro then launched into harsh words for Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican.
“And Jim Jordan, who’s not doing a good job. I don’t know what Jim’s doing over at the House Judiciary Committee, but he’s certainly not digging deep on the weaponization or the election fraud. He needs to get off the wrestler mat and get in on this thing,” Mr. Navarro said.
He added that he wants to see more action from Mr. Jordan on several issues, including election security, which has been a top priority for the Trump administration.
“He hasn’t done anything on the weaponization of the Justice Department. I don’t know what he’s doing at that committee. He’s done some things that arguably need to be done, but there’s nothing more important than election integrity. He’s not doing anything on that,” he said.
A spokesperson for the House Judiciary Committee defended Mr. Jordan’s record of standing up for Mr. Trump against the weaponization of law enforcement.
“Chairman Jordan has been at the forefront of defending President Trump against the left’s lawfare campaign – from Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, to two politicized impeachments to Jim Comey, Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis and Jack Smith,” the spokesperson said in a statement to The Washington Times.
Mr. Navarro said lawmakers need to look into newly declassified documents released by the White House that revealed the FBI’s Russia collusion probe was predicated on whether Mr. Trump “is or was directed by, controlled by, and/or coordinated activities” with Russian President Vladimir Putin and whether “he obstructed and/or conspired to obstruct” the bureau’s probe.
That investigation was opened in May 2017, marking the first time the FBI opened an investigation into a sitting president.
Mr. Navarro said multiple key facts about the investigation are still unknown, including the opening document, which would reveal which officials signed off on the investigation. The name of the drafter of the opening communications remains redacted. He said the name of the drafter along with everyone who reviewed or supplied “reliable lead information” should be made public.
“We need to look at all the documents now. They have to be unredacted. That’s the next step that has to take place, and these people need to be held accountable because this was nothing more than an attempted coup d’etat,” he said.
“That was pure election interference prior to the 2016 election, but they didn’t quit. They didn’t stop. They kept going after him,” Mr. Navarro continued.
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