(NewsNation) — Peter Navarro, senior counselor to President Trump for trade and manufacturing, believes former President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton should be sent to prison if they refuse to testify regarding a probe into Jeffrey Epstein.
His comments come as the House Oversight Committee voted Wednesday to recommend the Department of Justice prosecute the Clintons for contempt.
The move to hold the Clintons in contempt comes after the couple refused to comply with a subpoena for testimony on the House Oversight Committee’s probe into files regarding Epstein, the billionaire financier and sex offender. The proceedings are the first step toward criminal prosecution by the Department of Justice that could result in fines or a prison sentence.
Navarro, who served a four-month sentence for refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 riots, joined “Katie Pavlich Tonight” on Friday.
“They’d better get their butts up there, or they should go through the same kind of thing I did, but for the reason that they’re breaking the law. I did not,” Navarro said.
“Clinton should testify, but I want to be clear here. I was a senior White House adviser, the president invoked executive privilege … I had a responsibility not to go. I have what’s called absolute testimony, meaning it’s my constitutional duty. I held that, and they sent me to prison,” he added.
Rep. James Comer, chair of the Oversight Committee, rejected an offer Tuesday from an attorney for the Clintons to have Comer and the ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Robert Garcia, interview Bill Clinton in New York, along with staff.
The Clintons have criticized the committee, noting that the DOJ has failed to release the files as mandated, though an attorney for the family has reportedly been working to reach an agreement behind the scenes.
In a statement on social media, Bill Clinton’s deputy chief of staff stated that the Clintons have been cooperating and offered options for an interview by members of the committee but said Republicans have refused to agree.
The Clintons have also argued that the subpoenas are invalid because they don’t serve any legislative purpose and say that they did not know about Epstein’s abuse. They have offered the committee written declarations about their interactions with Epstein.
The contempt charges still have to go through a full House vote to move forward.
The Associated Press and NewsNation’s Steph Whiteside contributed to this report.
