Chuck Grassley calls on FBI to release Biden-era emails over jailed first-term Trump personnel

Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles E. Grassley on Thursday asked the FBI for internal communications regarding the prosecution of President Trump and his first-term White House staff. 

Mr. Grassley, Iowa Republican, released internal FBI emails showing a coordinated plan to take down White House trade adviser Peter Navarro. But he wants the bureau to publicly release more messages related to the bureau’s investigation, arrest and indictment of Mr. Navarro and other former Trump officials.

“I am making these emails public in the interest of transparency. The American people have a right to know as much as possible regarding the internal Biden Justice Department and FBI process to determine where to allocate taxpayer resources to investigate and prosecute former Trump officials,” Mr. Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel.

The Washington Times reached out to the White House for comment. 

Mr. Navarro, who serves as Mr. Trump’s expert on trade as he did in the first term, was convicted of contempt of Congress in 2022 for refusing to testify about the president to the Democratic-led House Jan. 6 committee.

The Justice Department under President Biden prosecuted Mr. Navarro and imprisoned him for four months in Miami last year. 

Mr. Grassley said, “To develop a complete understanding of all efforts within the Biden Justice Department and FBI to investigate and prosecute President Trump and his White House staff,” all communications, including phone records and emails, among all Justice Department and FBI personnel related to the contempt of Congress cases should be made public. 

Stephen Bannon, another adviser to Mr. Trump during his first term, was also sentenced to four months in prison for contempt of Congress last July after defying the House Jan. 6 committee.

Mr. Grassley included internal FBI emails from May to June 2022 in his letter to Ms. Bondi and Mr. Patel.

The emails show bureau agents and officials planning how they would arrest and press criminal charges against Mr. Navarro for contempt of Congress.

“My office has obtained Biden administration emails regarding the investigation and later prosecution of Peter Navarro,” Mr. Grassley said in his letter. “These communications provide a behind-the-scenes snapshot of some of the actions taken by the FBI’s Washington Field Office (WFO) to investigate Navarro for contempt of Congress and obstruction.”

Mr. Grassley said, “The emails show that Special Agent (SA) Walter Giardina, Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Blaire Toleman and Assistant Special Agent in Charge (ASAC) Timothy Thibault, among others, played a role in the investigation and ultimate prosecution of Navarro.”

A May 20, 2022, email from Mr. Giardina to Mr. Thibault and several other FBI officials laid out Mr. Navarro’s indictment. This included locating Mr. Navarro, getting a subpoena return from Verizon for his phone, issuing a preservation letter to Apple, preparing a search warrant for his phone and iCloud account, conducting a knock-and-talk interview and serving a phone search warrant at the conclusion of the interview.

In a May 26, 2022, email, Mr. Thibault wrote to Steven D’Antuono, top agent in the FBI’s Washington field office, and several other bureau officials: “This morning CR-15 agents attempted to interview former WH official Peter Navarro in connection to the pending Contempt of Congress case. Navarro declined to be interviewed and accused the agents and the AG of harassment. Navarro filmed the encounter.”

Mr. Navarro was ultimately the first White House official in history to be jailed on a contempt of Congress conviction.

Upon receiving news of Mr. Navarro’s impending indictment, Mr. Thibault responded, “Wow. Great.”

Mr. Grassley noted in his letter that the FBI officials involved in the Navarro case were also involved in the “politically infected” cases against Mr. Trump, including Arctic Frost and special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. 

Mr. Grassley gave the FBI a deadline for these records, without any redactions, of May 13.

The Washington Times reached out to the FBI for comment.