The West Wing is instructing former White House counsel Don McGahn to defy a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee led by Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y.
Documents related to the federal Russia investigation were due at 11 a.m., but McGahn’s attorney said he received an order from the White House Tuesday morning not to comply and that the Justice Department supports the move.
“This morning, I received the enclosed letter from current Counsel to the President, Pat A. Cipollone,” McGahn said. “In it, Mr. Cipollone explains that Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, who I understand is custodian of documents for the White House, has directed that Mr. McGahn not produce the White House documents ‘because they implicate significant Executive Branch confidentiality interest and executive privilege.’ Mr. Cipollone’s letter goes on to note that ‘the Department of justice is aware of and concurs with this legal opinion.'”
White House officials indicated President Trump might exert executive privilege to block McGahn from cooperating, possibly setting him up for a contempt of Congress citation. White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told ABC News in a podcast Tuesday, “I don’t anticipate that that takes place,” in reference to the Democrats’ subpoena. “We consider this to be a case closed and we’re moving forward to do the work of the American people,” she added.
The House Judiciary Committee has already set up a contempt vote for Attorney General William Barr for Wednesday over his defiance of a subpoena to turn over the full, unredacted Russia investigation report to Congress. Justice Department and House Judiciary staff are meeting on Tuesday to try and negotiate a deal.
The panel subpoenaed McGahn last month, seeking his testimony and documents relevant to its investigation into possible obstruction of justice by Trump.
Trump said this weekend he does not want McGahn to testify.
The letter from White house counsel Pat Cipollone to Nadler indicated the Trump administration is still open to talks. He said his office will respond to Nadler’s committee “concerning its interest in the records.”
In a statement, House Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Doug Collins, R-Ga., said the White House is still in negotiations with the Democratic majority. “As I said more than a month ago, when Democrats subpoenaed Don McGahn, they subpoenaed the wrong person,” he said. “The White House is nevertheless seeking to accommodate Democrats’ unwieldy demands. I hope Chairman Nadler accepts this reasonable offer rather than continuing to reject good faith offers to negotiate.”
McGahn, who served as White House counsel from 2017 until late last year, was a key figure in special counsel Robert Mueller’s obstruction probe. According to the report, released in April with redactions, he was one of the officials who resisted Trump’s orders to have Mueller fired. He was also told to lie about being ordered to fire Mueller.
McGahn cooperated with the special counsel’s team, sitting down for several interviews over 30 hours.
Although Mueller did not clear Trump of obstruction of justice, Barr said he determined that there is insufficient evidence to prove an obstruction crime. Democrats argue that Mueller’s report, which outlines 10 instances of possible obstruction, leaves it up to Congress to investigate and decide.
Nadler’s subpoena demanded documents and communications that related to 36 areas, including those related to Mueller, former national security adviser Michael Flynn, former FBI Director James Comey, former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, Southern District of New York investigations, and former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen. The subpoena also seeks “Public statements and/or requests to correct the record or deny reports that President Trump asked for Special Counsel Robert Mueller to be removed as Special Counsel.”
The subpoena asked for testimony from McGahn on May 21.
“Mr. McGahn is a critical witness to many of the alleged instances of obstruction of justice and other misconduct described in the Mueller report,” Nadler, D-N.Y., said in a statement at the time. “His testimony will help shed further light on the President’s attacks on the rule of law, and his attempts to cover up those actions by lying to the American people and requesting others do the same.”
