White House counsel McGahn departs

WASHINGTON — Don McGahn departed as White House counsel Wednesday, ending a tumultuous 21-month tenure where he spearheaded some of President Donald Trump’s most significant political accomplishments, including two appointments to the Supreme Court, but also became a chief witness against him in the special counsel investigation.

McGahn’s departure was confirmed by two people close to him. McGahn and the president sat for a farewell chat Wednesday, one said. Trump said this week that he will install as McGahn’s replacement the longtime Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone, calling him “a very fine man, highly respected by a lot of people.”

As White House counsel, McGahn took on a handful of often-conflicting roles: counselor to the president; protector of top law enforcement officials, including the special counsel, Robert Mueller; and witness in the investigation into whether Trump obstructed justice. He has told associates that he stopped Trump from firing Mueller and from forcing Attorney General Jeff Sessions to retake control of the Russia inquiry after he recused himself from oversight of it.

A longtime fixture in Republican legal circles, McGahn led White House efforts to slash government regulations and stack the federal courts with conservative judges. He shepherded the nominations of both of Trump’s Supreme Court choices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.

But McGahn had little tolerance for Trump’s often emotional responses to the legal cloud hanging over his administration, referring to the president as “King Kong” — out of Trump’s earshot — because of his explosive anger.