Donald Trump told Fox News on Thursday evening that “I don't think I can let” former White House counsel Don McGahn appear before Congress and testify about Trump’s attempt to obstruct the investigation into connections between the Trump campaign and Russia. Democrats in both the House and the Senate have already called on McGahn to testify.
The report from special counsel Robert Mueller details at least 10 instances in which Trump attempted to obstruct the investigation through stonewalling, encouraging witnesses to lie, telling underlings not to cooperate, lying, or simply trying to end the investigation directly. Incidents involving White House counsel Don McGahn have attracted considerable attention since the redacted report was released, not necessarily because they’re any more blatant than any other incident, but because they were largely unknown before the report was released.
According to McGahn, Trump called him twice to tell him to get rid of Mueller. The report makes it clear that Trump’s interaction with McGahn satisfied all the necessary grounds for a charge of obstruction. During Senate testimony, Attorney General William Barr tried to parse the difference between what Trump claimed and McGahn’s testimony in order to disguise the issue. He did not succeed.
As The Washington Post reports, Trump’s interactions with McGahn are particularly detailed in the report because conservative lawyer and Trump supporter Annie Donaldson, who served as McGahn’s chief of staff, took detailed notes at the times of the discussions. Donaldson’s notes provide a contemporaneous account of Trump’s statements, capturing phrases and orders in a way that makes them more difficult to dispute. Donaldson’s notes cover Trump raging over former FBI Director James Comey, attempts to push then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions to un-recuse himself, and Trump’s efforts to remove Mueller as special counsel.
Barr has presented the discussion between Trump and McGahn as something where they just “disagreed” on what was said, and Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani has claimed that McGahn changed his story over time. But the Mueller report shows that McGahn’s account is supported by notes made at the time—which is exactly why Trump was so upset that someone was taking notes.
And the detailed and convincing thoroughness of McGahn’s statements show Trump clearly attempting to obstruct the investigation—exactly why Trump doesn’t want him to testify.
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As CNN notes, Trump’s stated reason for blocking McGahn from testifying is that if he lets his former White House counsel talk, he might have to let other people talk. According to Trump, “I don't think I can let him and then tell everybody else you can't," and “I can't say, 'Well, one can and the others can't.'" Like Lindsey Graham, Trump declared the investigation “done” and made it clear that his answer was a blanket No.
But if letting McGahn testify means that everyone should be allowed to testify, the answer should be Yes, and why not? If Trump didn’t believe that some of these witnesses weren’t going to say things that made it clear the campaign had reached out to Russia and had profited from WikiLeaks, and that Trump had attempted to block the investigation, there would be no reason to attempt to block any testimony, much less all. Trump, the master of pretzel logic, has a reply: “I've given total transparency. [Congress] shouldn't be looking anymore."
Despite Trump’s Fox statements, it’s clear that a subpoena will be issued for McGahn’s testimony. During his Senate testimony, Barr made it clear that “we,” meaning Trump and his personal attorney Barr, haven’t surrendered executive privilege concerning McGahn. Kellyanne Conway made the same claim over the weekend.
It’s obvious that while Trump is blocking the testimony of all current and former White House staff, there are some he fears more than others—and Don McGahn may be at the top of that list.
That doesn’t make McGahn a hero. Like Rudy Giuliani and Michael Cohen, McGahn served Trump loyally despite knowing that what he was doing was spreading lies and diminishing the rule of law. McGahn also played a key role in shepherding through the nomination of Justice Brett “Beer” Kavanaugh. However, at least when talking to Robert Mueller, McGahn was willing to tell the truth about his interactions with Trump … and the truth is the one thing Trump always hates the most.