White House counsel McGahn, key man in legal storms, will leave
The Associated Press played a pivotal role in the president’s remaking of the federal judiciary with young, conservative judges. He also helped guide Mr. Trump’s selection of nowSupreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and the president’s nomination of Judge Kavanaugh and helped oversee a dramatic rollback of Obama era regulations.
ButMr. McGahn’s time has also been marked by tumult as he has been the main point of contact inside the White Housefor Mr. Mueller’s investigation. He has met with investigators on at least three occasions for many hours at a time and threatened to resign last year if Mr. Trump continued to press for Mr. Mueller’s removal.
Mr. Trump’s announcement came more than a week after a New York Times report that Mr. McGahn had been cooperating extensively with Mr. Mueller’s investigation into Russian election meddling and possible collusion with Mr. Trump’s Republican campaign.
Mr. Trump insisted at the time that his general counsel wasn’t a “RAT” and contrasted him with John Dean, the White House counsel for President Richard Nixon during the Watergate scandal. Mr. Dean ultimately cooperated with prosecutors and helped bring down the Nixon presidency in 1974, though he served a prison term for obstruction of justice.
Mr. McGahn has been telling associates for months that he was looking to leave the White House and had discussed the timing. But Mr. Trump’s tweet came as a surprise to some White House officials and lawmakers.
Mr. McGahn, 50, has navigated many of the storms of the first 19 months of the Trump White House, figuring in the drama surrounding the firing of national security adviser Michael Flynn and also Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ decision to recuse himself from the Russia case.
When Mr. Trump announced Mr. McGahn’s appointment in November 2016, he cited the attorney’s “brilliant legal mind, excellent character and a deep understanding of constitut i o n a l law.” But Mr. McGahn quickly clashed with the president over the Russia investigation.