It is a stunning confrontation. Peter Navarro, the White House Director of Trade and Manufacturing Policy says the American people “don’t have a right to know” if the Trump administration has tied China trade policy to getting dirt on Joe Biden. President Trump has been engaged in an extortion scheme against Ukraine, using congressionally-approved military aid to try to strong arm that country.

“You don’t have a right to know what happens behind closed doors,” Navarro, whose often referred to as President Trump’s trade advisor, tells CNN’s Jim Sciutto at a televised forum Thursday.

“I think the American people have a right to know if politics have entered trade negotiations,” Sciutto responded.

Navarro tried to deflect by decrying “too many stories reported based on anonymous sources,” despite the fact that President trump freely admitted he was engaged in an extortion scheme.

“I’m asking you a diret question,” Sciutto continued. “Did you bring up investigating the Bidens as part of the negotiations?”

Navarro refused to answer the simple and direct question that, despite his false claim, Americans absoutely do have the right to know.

“It’s not an appropriate question in my judgment,” he claimed, falsely, repeatedly raising his hands as if to say “stop.”

“Asked and answered,” Navarro concluded.

Watch:

Here’s video of @jimsciutto asking Peter Navarro if political investigations about the Bidens have come up during China trade talks, and Navarro declining to answer. pic.twitter.com/uaev1O960s — Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) October 24, 2019

Professor of international relations, political scientist, and journalist David Rothkopf offered this response to Navarro’s remarks:

Navarro has zero credibility among experts of both parties who specialize in the field in which he purports to have expertise (trade). This is because he is an idiot who is limited both by how much he does not know & by the fact that what he does know is wrong. He’s also a hack. https://t.co/LaLUTeUUy5 — David Rothkopf (@djrothkopf) October 24, 2019

President Trump has publicly asked China to dig up dirt on the Bidens. China, at least publicly, refused. Experts say Trump’s request is a “felony violation of law.”