Latest White House exit: McGahn
Trump counsel helped reshape judiciary, was liaison to Congress, Dept. of Justice
WASHINGTON — White House counsel Don McGahn, who has led the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape the judiciary while confronting turmoil in the West Wing surrounding the ongoing special counsel probe, has decided to leave the White House, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.
“White House Counsel Don McGahn will be leaving his position in the fall, shortly after the confirmation (hopefully) of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!”
The exit of McGahn — a 50-year-old lawyer who has been a presence at Trump’s side since the early days of the 2016 presidential campaign — comes at a fragile moment inside the White House amid escalating tension between the president and the Department of Justice in recent weeks.
McGahn has long functioned as Trump’s liaison to Justice officials and Congress. He has frequently played the informal role of peacemaker, as special counsel Robert Mueller and his team have pursued interviews and documents from White House officials as part of their investigation into Russian interference during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Many Republicans on Capitol Hill, who see McGahn as a stable force and accessible official, were dismayed by Trump’s announcement.
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, tweeted Wednesday that he hopes “it’s not true” that McGahn is leaving and urged Trump to not “let that happen.”
McGahn’s role in seeking to transform the judiciary — he helped select two Supreme Court nominees and dozens of picks for lower federal courts — made him a favorite of conservatives who view the endeavor as the most successful project of Trump’s presidency.
Trump’s announcement of McGahn’s departure came as a surprise, including to McGahn.
He was not aware that Trump planned to send the tweet before it posted, according to a person close to McGahn who was not authorized to speak publicly.
“He was surprised,” the person said. While it had been an open secret inside the White House that McGahn planned to leave after Kavanaugh’s confirmation process concludes, he had not discussed his plans directly with Trump, according to this person.
McGahn, who has told many friends that he has wearily endured countless political and legal battles, saw Trump’s tweet as abrupt but typical of how the president acts — and it did not make him angry, according to two people familiar with his reaction. His reaction was, “Of course it happened this way,” one person said.
McGahn’s departure is seen within Trump’s circle as the culmination of frustrations that have come with each new crisis that he has been forced to handle since Trump took office, from a scandal over thennational security adviser Michael Flynn’s disclosure Don McGahn plans to leave his job after the confirmation proceedings of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. of contacts with Russian officials to the many times the president has lashed out about Mueller’s probe.
Still, McGahn has often expressed a sense of accomplishment to allies despite the controversies. As evidence of conservative success, he has pointed in particular to his efforts last year around the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and other judicial nominees later approved by the Republicancontrolled Senate, as well as his work to curb federal regulations.
But McGahn’s tenure has nonetheless been dominated by pressurefilled flash points that have obligated him to respond to the president’s demands and deal with Trump’s anger over what the presi- dent has called a “witch hunt.” His decision to leave could prompt concerns among Republicans leaders about who will now be a calming and seasoned legal figure inside the Oval Office.
Since April, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani has been serving as the president’s lead outside attorney focused on the Russia investigation and has been combative and public in his efforts as McGahn has stayed out of sight.
McGahn, especially duri ng the beginning of Trump’s term, cautioned him about contacting Justice Department officials and even told associates he was concerned that Trump was doing so without his knowledge. The two men would have “spectacular” fights, according to a person who witnessed some of them.
When Trump sought the firing of Mueller in June 2017, McGahn threatened to resign over the proposed move, according to two people familiar with the exchange. McGahn’s warning to the president was first reported by the New York Times and denied by Trump, who called it “fake news.”
Former Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., said in an interview then that McGahn “prevented an Archibald Cox moment,” referring to the special prosecutor ordered fired by President Richard Nixon during the Watergate investigation.
In another showdown in March 2017, McGahn urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from the Russia probe. And last April, Trump asked McGahn to persuade thenFBI Director James Comey to announce that Trump was not personally under investigation, but Comey rejected McGahn’s entreaties.
Along with other current and former Trump aides, McGahn has met on multiple occasions with Mueller’s team. Throughout that process, McGahn has had tense clashes with Trump’s outside attorneys on Russia — as well as former White House lawyer Ty Cobb, who coordinated the White House’s interaction with Mueller’s team — questioning their cooperative strategy in the case.
McGahn’s struggles in the West Wing have not solely been related to Trump’s conduct, but his own.
Earlier in the year, White House chief of staff John Kelly and McGahn faced scrutiny over how they handled allegations of spousal abuse against Rob Porter, who resigned as staff secretary on Feb. 7.
Long before Trump was seen as a viable presidential contender, McGahn, a former commissioner of the Federal Election Commission, became the Trump campaign’s attorney. McGahn has told friends that he admired Trump as a Republican outsider and understands his appeal. McGahn’s uncle, Atlantic City lawyer Patrick McGahn, had represented Trump for years.
And before joining the White House, McGahn was a partner at Patton Boggs LLP and later at Jones Day and was counsel to the National Republican Congressional Committee. President George W. Bush nominated him to serve on the FEC.