Tag: Don McGahn

Judge rules former WH counsel McGahn must testify under subpoena

The Hill logoA federal judge on Monday ruled that former White House counsel Don McGahn must testify before Congress, delivering a significant win to House Democrats amid their impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

In her ruling, U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, an Obama appointee, said McGahn is obligated to comply with a House Judiciary Committee subpoena from April seeking to compel his testimony.

But the legal fight over McGahn’s testimony is likely far from over.

View the complete November 25 article by John Kruzel on The Hill website here.

Trump Jr. and McGahn didn’t testify before Mueller grand jury during Russia probe — and a federal judge wants to know why

AlterNet logoDuring the Russia investigation, former special counsel Robert Mueller sought testimony from a long list of people. But according to a court filing on Sunday, two people who Mueller did not force to testify before a grand jury were Donald Trump Jr. and former White House Counsel Don McGahn. And U.S. District Judge Beryl Howell wants to know why.

The court filing on Sunday, according to The Week, was in response to a ruling Howell made on Thursday — when Howell asserted that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was withholding too much information from the House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Rep. Jerry Nadler of New York. The House Judiciary Committee, The Week’s Peter Weber reports, has been “wrangling” with DOJ over the evidence that Mueller obtained during his lengthy investigation.

On Thursday, Howell wrote that it was unclear why Mueller didn’t force Trump Jr. or McGahn to testify. “The special counsel’s reasons remain unknown,” Howell explained. “The reason is not that the individuals were insignificant to the investigation. To the contrary, both of the non-testifying individuals named in paragraph four figured in key events examined in the Mueller Report. Assessment of these choices by the special counsel is a matter for others.”

View the complete October 22 article by Alex Henderson on the AlterNet website here.

McGahn subpoena fight to test limits of executive ‘immunity’

The Hill logoThe impending court battle over a congressional subpoena for President Trump’s former White House counsel Don McGahn is about to test the concept of “immunity” for top presidential advisers, which has been invoked by both Republican and Democratic administrations but hardly tested in courts.

Legal experts say the outcome of a court battle between the House Judiciary Committee and the White House over McGahn documents and testimony could have significant implications for the powers of Congress and the executive branch.

The court fight could take months, even years, to resolve, further frustrating House Democrats as they seek to follow investigative threads from former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia probe.

View the complete June 30 article by Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

Trump says McGahn ‘may have been confused’ when he said Trump directed him to pursue Mueller’s firing

President Trump said in an interview broadcast Friday that former White House counsel Donald McGahn “may have been confused” when he told investigators that Trump had directed him to pursue the firing of special counsel Robert S. Mueller III amid his investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

During the interview with ABC News, Trump issued a fresh denial of an episode detailed in Mueller’s report that House Democrats have seized upon as they examine whether Trump sought to obstruct Mueller’s probe and should be impeached.

“I don’t care what he says. It doesn’t matter,” Trump said of McGahn in the interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “I was never going to fire Mueller. I never suggested firing Mueller.”

View the complete June 14 article by John Wagner on The Washington Post website here.

Nadler subpoenas Hope Hicks and McGahn’s former aide for testimony

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday subpoenaed two former White House officials to testify before his committee and provide documents, a move that is likely to further exacerbate a standoff with the White House.

Nadler issued subpoenas to Annie Donaldson, who served as chief of staff to former White House counsel Don McGahn, and former White House communications director Hope Hicks, one of President Trump‘s longest-serving aides in the West Wing.

The two subpoenas mark an ongoing fight between the White House and Congress as House Democrats seek to compel the testimony of other current and former administration officials as part of their sprawling investigations into Trump and his administration.

View the complete May 21 article by Olivia Beaver and Morgan Chalfant on The Hill website here.

‘This is nuts’: Former federal prosecutor argues Trump’s justification for blocking McGahn’s testimony will cripple the US Constitution

Former federal prosecutor and CNN legal analyst Elie Honig this week admitted he was stunned by President Donald Trump’s justification for blocking the testimony of former White House counsel Don McGahn — and he called the legal rationale behind it “nuts.”

Writing on CNN, Honig said he was aghast at the lengths the Trump White House is going to prevent Congress from conducting any oversight.

“The White House previously invoked executive privilege in an effort to prevent McGahn from producing documents to Congress,” he writes. “Now the White House — perhaps recognizing that its executive privilege invocation would likely fail on the legal merits — has changed tack and instead made an even broader claim that Congress cannot ever compel testimony from a senior adviser to the President. This is nuts.”

View the complete May 21 article by Brad Reed from Real Story on the AlterNet website here.

Nadler accuses Trump of witness intimidation, threatens legal action over McGahn testimony

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) accused President Trump of witness intimidation on Tuesday and threatened legal action to enforce his panel’s subpoena for public testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn.

“He took to Twitter to call Mr. McGahn a liar. His lawyers went on cable television to do the same,” Nadler said at a brief committee hearing that was supposed to feature McGahn’s testimony.

“In short, the president took it upon himself to intimidate a witness who has a legal obligation to be here today,” he added. “This conduct is not remotely acceptable.”

View the complete May 21 article by Morgan Chalfant and Olivia Beavers on The Hill website here.

A Don McGahn no-show could be turning point on impeachment

Members of leadership starting to speak more directly of proceedings

Rep. David Cicilline, a member of House Democratic leadership who serves on the Judiciary Committee, said that if former White House counsel Don McGahn does not testify Tuesday, the panel should open an impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump.

And the Rhode Island Democrat, who cited “a pattern from the White House to impede our investigation,” is not alone in the leadership ranks.

“This is a cover-up by the White House, and there comes a point where we have to stand up for the rule of law,” Cicilline said Monday. “It is not just about this president. It is about future presidents. It’s about the message it sends about our respect for the Constitution and for the rule of law. And if this pattern by the president continues, where he’s going to impede and prevent and undermine our ability to gather evidence to do our job, we’re going to be left with no choice.”

View the complete May 20 article by Lindsey McPherson on The Roll Call website here.

McGahn refused request by White House to say Trump did not obstruct justice after Mueller report’s release

President Trump sought to have former White House counsel Donald McGahn issue a public statement last month that he did not believe the president had engaged in criminal conduct when he sought to exert control over the Russia investigation — a request McGahn declined, according to people familiar with the episode.

McGahn had told the special counsel’s office that he did not think Trump’s actions rose to the level of obstruction of justice, two people familiar with his interviews said.

But Mueller’s report concluded that there was substantial evidence the president had engaged in obstruction of justice when he pushed McGahn to help oust special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. McGahn’s view was not disclosed in the report.

View the complete May 10 article by Carol D. Leonnig and Josh Dawsey on The Washington Post website here.

After McGahn misses first subpoena deadline, Nadler warns of contempt if he misses second

Former White House counsel declines to turn over documents, but committee expects him to testify

House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Tuesday that his panel will hold former White House counsel Donald McGahn in contempt of Congress if he does not comply with a subpoena to appear before the committee on May 21.

The threat, which the New York Democrat issued in a letter sent to McGahn’s lawyer William A. Burck, comes as McGahn missed the first of two deadlines the committee gave him in the subpoena. McGahn had to turn over by Tuesday documents related to instances chronicled in special counsel Robert S. Mueller III’s report in which President Donald Trump may have obstructed justice.

McGahn, who did not turn over the documents because the White House asserts it has legal custody them, faces a second deadline two weeks from now, when the Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed him to testify about the alleged obstruction of justice.

View the complete May 7 article by Lindsey McPherson on The Roll Call website here.