Former White House counsel Don McGahn must obey a subpoena to testify before theไ House Judiciary C♍ommittee, a federal judge ruled on Monday.
Democrats sought to question McGahn about possible obstruction of justice by President Trump in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, months before the start of the impeachment hearings.
The White House argued McGahn and other witnesses in Mueller’s probe had “absolute immunity.”
But in her ruling Monday, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote that “with respect to senior-level presidential aides, absolute immunity from compelled congressional process simply does not exist.”
“However busy or essential a presidential aide might be, and whatever their proximity to sensitive domestic and national-security projects, the President does not have the power to excuse him or her” from complying with a valid congressional subpoena, Jackson wrote.
The 𒐪decision from the Obama appointee could spur House Democrats leading the impeachment inquiry to try and compel testimony from other high-ranking officials, including former national security adviser John Bolton.
The White House is expected to appeal.
Even if McGahn were to eventually testify, it’s unclear if any new revelations would come out.
In interview with Mueller’s team probing Russian meddling in the 2016 election, McGahn described being called by the president in June 2017. He said Trump directed him to tell the Justice Department that Mueller had conflicts of interests and should be canned.
McGahn said he declined to follow the orde♐r, and decided to resign instead.
When the episode became public, McGahn claimed the pre🔯sident demanded that he dispꦚute news stories about it.
McGahn also said Trump asked why he had told Mueller about the incident and taken notes on conversations w🐬ith the president.
With Post wires