WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – Former White House trade advisor Peter Navarro refused to submit to a subpoena to documents related to Trump’s coronavirus response. According to his reply to a congressional request, he said that the president had ordered him to not comply.

House Select Subcommittee of the Coronavirus Crisis issued the subpoena in November as part of its investigation into whether Trump Administration officials had mishandled federal responses to pandemics by interfering in the work of its own health agency. A total of nearly 800,000 Americans have been killed by the pandemic.

Navarro was a Republican who served as one Trump’s former pandemic advisers. He was responsible, among others, for procurement in his coronavirus responses. In a letter addressed to the subcommittee, Navarro stated that he wouldn’t cooperate with Trump because he told him to protect executive privilege.

“It is a direct ord that I should not obey the subpoena,” Navarro wrote in a letter sent to the committee. Reuters was able to see a copy.

James Clyburn is a Democrat. He chairs the coronavirus crise panel. In a letter addressed to Navarro, he stated that he didn’t have any reason for not complying and that he had waived all privileges in writing about Trump’s coronavirus response conversations.

Clyburn stated in the letter that the refusal was “particularly difficult to defend given the fact you revealed many details about how you worked in the White House, such as details from conversations with President Bush about the pandemic response,”

Clyburn did not respond to Navarro’s request for a reply immediately.

Clyburn indicated that the subcommittee expected Navarro, in accordance with the subpoena, to provide all relevant records and information as well as appear for a Deposition on December 15.

Clyburn claimed that instead of implementing a national coordinated strategy to reduce critical supply shortfalls, Mr. Navarro (and other Trump Administration officials) pushed responsibility towards the states and followed a haphazard approach to procurement. This contributed to grave shortages in critically needed supplies and placed American lives at serious risk.