Tag: McGahn House Justice Committee testimony

Don McGahn’s unflattering portrayal of Trump

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We had to wait a long time to see testimony from former White House counsel Donald McGahn. And in the end, it was anticlimactic — at least as far as the known facts went.

McGahn fought a congressional subpoena for two years, ultimately reaching a deal under which he would testify behind closed doors — but only about specific events detailed in the Mueller report. McGahn was a key witness in that investigation, having said that President Donald Trump asked him to get special counsel Robert S. Mueller III removed. (McGahn refused both Trump’s request and a later request for McGahn to falsely deny the president made the request.) But the agreement and McGahn’s apparent desire not to make too much news with his testimony conspired to make his testimony far from earth-shattering.

If you read between the lines, though, McGahn’s elaboration on previously known facts doesn’t exactly paint a glowing picture of his former boss. Continue reading.

McGahn Affirmed That Trump Tried to Oust Mueller, Transcript Shows

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The former White House counsel testified behind closed doors last week about the former president’s attempts to interfere with the Russia investigation.

WASHINGTON — Donald F. McGahn II, who served as White House counsel to former President Donald J. Trump, has told lawmakers that episodes involving him in the Russia report by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, were accurate — including one Mr. Trump has denied in which the president pressed him to get the Justice Department to remove Mr. Mueller.

A 241-page transcript of Mr. McGahn’s closed-door testimony from last week, released on Wednesday by the House Judiciary Committee, contained no major revelations. But it opened a window on Mr. McGahn’s struggles to serve as the top lawyer in a chaotic White House, under a president who often pushed the limits of appropriate behavior.

“They don’t teach you this in law school,” Mr. McGahn said of one episode he witnessed in which Mr. Trump was trying to get his attorney general at the time, Jeff Sessions, to resign because he had recused himself from the Russia investigation. Continue reading.