During Tuesday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) pushed Federal Bureau of Prisons Director Colette Peters about her refusal to let him interview political prisoner Peter Navarro for his podcast.
Navarro, a renowned economist who worked in the Trump administration and whose report exposed the widespread fraud that took place during the 2020 presidential election, was imprisoned for four months by the Biden regime for failing to comply with a subpoena during Liz Cheney’s shame January 6th investigation.
Last week, Navarro was released and immediately headed for Milwaukee to speak at the RNC where he received a hero’s welcome.
While serving his politically motivated sentence, Rep. Gaetz attempted to arrange an interview with Navarro, but was denied because, according to Federal Bureau of Prisons, Navarro is “too notorious” for such a meeting to take place.
During the Judiciary Committee hearing, Gaetz pushed Peters on her decision.
Rep. Gaetz: Director Peters, do you remember telling me that Peter Navarro was “too notorious” when I wanted to interview him during his incarceration?
Peters: Congressman, we had a long conversation about your desire to have us help facilitate Mr. Strand to appear on your podcast. Nope,nope, no this is Navarro.
Rep. Gaetz: I’m asking about Mr. Navarro. Do you remember telling me he was too notorious?
Peters: Oh, sorry. Congressman, yes.
Rep. Gaetz: I want to get into how you determine that an inmate is too notorious for an interview or not too notorious for an interview. What is the standard that you apply?
Peters: So, congressman, I think it’s really important for the committee to understand that the request was about him appearing on a podcast. It wasn’t about facilitating a meeting with the two of you, which my office followed up and said we would clearly facilitate. There’s only one avenue, as we talked about in our policy, around being able to appear on a podcast, and that’s our media policy. And you, with your personal podcast, that is not official…..
Rep. Gaetz: No, it’s my official podcast. Members of Congress do podcasts to function as video newsletters to tell the American people what’s going on? So I wanted to interview Navarro. You said he was too notorious. You’ve acknowledged that was the basis. So I want to know now what test you apply to determine that someone is or is not too notorious.
Peters: Again, congressman, while I shared that information with you in a one-on-one briefing, the crux of the denial was that we were not able to help facilitate an incarcerated individual to appear on a podcast.
Rep. Gaetz: No, no, no. That wasn’t what you said. You said it was… You acknowledged it was this notoriety factor. The reason I ask is because Michael Avenatti gave an interview from federal prison. I guess, why is it that Michael Avenatti is authorized to do an interview from federal prison, but Peter Navarro isn’t.
Peters: Congressman, I met with you to be as helpful as possible to discuss…
Rep. Gaetz: That wasn’t helpful.
No, because here’s what it looks like. You’ve acknowledged that the reason you didn’t let me interview Navarro was because you said he was too notorious. And then I’ve spent more than a minute trying to get you to explain what the test is for that notoriety. And you can’t explain one. You just keep going back to, ‘Well, we couldn’t facilitate you. We’re trying to be helpful.’ That wasn’t helpful.
And when you have standards that are subject to just any interpretation you want, then you carry with the entire bureau the belief that you guys are just being arbitrary. Because when John Gotti is allowed to do an interview for federal prison and Peter Navarro isn’t, it’s hard to ascertain how Gotti would be less notorious.
It animates the concern that you heard expressed by the chairman, whether it’s Galanis or Navarro or Bannon or whomever. Whatever, that you guys are trying to make it harder on people who are expressing views that you don’t particularly like. That’s going to be a prop. We’re going to have to put into law or oversight or something the ability to get to these people because we’re not going to accept just you making a determination that Avenatti is not too notorious, but Navarro is.
Watch:
Gaetz also pushed Peters to commit to allowing him to interview Steve Bannon, who currently sits in prison for his refusal to testify before the sham committee.
Rep. Gaetz: You heard the chairman say in his opening remarks that we want to go to Danbury Prison in Connecticut, and we want to go there to see Mr. Bannon. Is there going to be any problem in the next few weeks approving a visit with the chairman of this committee to go to Danbury?
Peters: As the congressman and I talked about during a one-on-one conversation yesterday, and as I will say to the Committee, we will be happy to review that request and make that accommodation as you submit that request to the Office of Legislative Affairs.
Rep. Gaetz: Okay, I appreciate the commitment to review it, but are you committing to approve it?
Peters: Congressmen, those approvals actually happen through the Office of Legislative affairs….
Rep. Gaetz: They work for you.
Peters: I can’t foresee an issue with the approval of that.
Rep. Gaetz: This is a legislative affair. You’re testifying before your oversight subcommittee. Why don’t you just tell us that you’ll approve our trip to go to Danbury?
Peters: That approval rests with the Department. We have a long-standing process of reviewing.
Rep. Gaetz: You lead the Department. There’s not some other person. You’re the head of the Department. Why can’t you just say we can go?
Peters: We have a long-standing process of those requests being reviewed by the department, and I will encourage my team to work closely with the Department in reviewing that request.
Rep. Gaetz: That is just a total non-answer. I mean, this is what we get, Mr. Chairman. This is what we get. Arbitrary standards, non-answers, and frankly, if we continue to fund it and tolerate, it’s all we’re going to get. I would encourage some robust oversight here. I would not want to be in a position where you guys denied this request.
Finally, I would just say with my final few seconds, Mr. Biggs and I were in really one of the most impressive prisons in the world, Saccat in El Salvador, and there was concern expressed by the Minister of Justice there that that the Mexican Mafia is operating out of our prisons, and they’re able to conduct criminal enterprises and use communication capabilities.
So I hope you would just take for the record, perhaps, a review of what the Mexican Mafia’s activities are. I’d love to hear about it. Finally, just want to echo everyone on the committee’s very thoughtful and appropriate remarks about our colleague, Sheila Jackson Lee. It only seems appropriate to offer that after the gavel has been wrong because that’s when Ms. Jackson-Lea did some of her most outstanding work. I yield back.
Watch:
BREAKING: Federal Bureau of Prisons Director REFUSES to commit to allowing Congress to see Steve Bannon in prison! pic.twitter.com/Oz68zXxYXZ
— Rep. Matt Gaetz (@RepMattGaetz) July 23, 2024
