WASHINGTON – Former White House counsel Don McGahn testified Friday behind closed doors before the House Judiciary Committee, under an agreement that avoided a constitutional showdown over the investigation of former President Donald Trump.
Under the agreement, McGahn sat for a transcribed interview. The transcript will be released within seven days, after a confidential review by McGahn's and Trump's lawyers.
The chairman of the panel, Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., said during a break that McGahn was being “somewhat difficult” and “cooperative some of the time.” Nadler said securing the testimony vindicated the congressional right to subpoena the executive branch as part of its oversight.
“I think he’s being somewhat difficult, but you’ll see that when the transcript comes out,” Nadler said. “He’s cooperative some of the time.”
Nadler said a half-dozen Democrats attended the session and two Republicans: Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Matt Gaetz of Florida.
The testimony could shed light on McGahn’s statements to special counsel Robert Mueller about Trump potentially trying to obstruct Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
McGahn told Mueller’s investigators that Trump called him at home June 17, 2017, and told him Mueller should be removed. McGahn didn’t carry out the direction, but Trump later met with McGahn in the Oval Office and pressured him again.
McGahn later told Trump's chief of staff that the president had asked him to "do crazy s---," according to Mueller’s report.
The court agreement calls for McGahn to testify about public portions of the Mueller report that involve him, and whether the report accurately portrays McGahn's statements.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, said it was important to question McGahn because he was the “most vocal witness that the Mueller report represented.”
“We want to know more deeply how invested in undermining national security was Donald Trump. How accurate was the Mueller report,” she said. “This counsel was very intimately involved in decision making and advice and counsel.”
McGahn was free to decline to answer questions and counsel from the Justice Department was able to instruct him not to answer questions.
McGahn's testimony was part of wide-ranging investigations by a half-dozen House committees into Trump. Although the House impeached Trump twice – for his dealings with Ukraine and for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol riot – the Senate acquitted him both times.
The Judiciary Committee sought McGahn’s testimony in May 2019. But McGahn defied the subpoena and the White House took the position that the adviser to the president couldn’t be compelled to testify.
The committee sued to enforce its subpoena, but an agreement was reached for McGahn’s testimony as another round of oral arguments was scheduled in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.
The agreement resolved a clash between the branches of government because the law is unclear about what testimony Congress can demand of the executive branch. Trump claimed executive privilege and absolute immunity from having aides testify, but previous cases to set limits on what documents or testimony Congress can demand have been resolved before courts reached ultimate decisions.
Trump argued that he cooperated with the investigation that he called a “witch hunt” by letting McGahn meet with investigators for 30 hours during the two-year inquiry.
Mueller made no decision on whether to charge Trump with obstruction because the Justice Department has a policy against charging a sitting president. Trump blasted the report as a partisan hoax.
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