McGahn defies subpoena, skips US House hearing
Lawyer advised not to appear in Russia probe
Ex-White House counsel Don McGahn was a noshow Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, which sought to question him about the Mueller investigation of President Donald Trump.
WASHINGTON – The White House’s former top lawyer, Don McGahn, defied a congressional subpoena and skipped a hearing Tuesday in which lawmakers had planned to press him on President Donald Trump’s efforts to thwart the investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
McGahn’s refusal to comply with a House Judiciary Committee subpoena came at the direction of the White House and after a legal opinion from the Justice Department on Monday said he could not be forced to appear before the panel.
The committee’s chairman, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., bristled at McGahn’s absence. “This conduct is not remotely acceptable,” he said, facing an empty witness chair. “Our subpoenas are not optional.”
McGahn’s move marked the latest in a series of clashes between Trump and lawmakers seeking to investigate him. The committee already found Attorney General William Barr in contempt for refusing to provide Congress with a complete version of special counsel Robert Mueller’s report about the Russia inquiry. Nadler said Tuesday that he intended to pursue McGahn’s testimony “even if we have to go to court to secure it.”
McGahn provided prosecutors hours of testimony about Trump’s efforts to stymie Mueller’s investigation, and Democrats who lead the committee wanted to press him to detail those episodes in public.
The department said McGahn need not appear to answer those questions. In a 15-page letter, the head of the department’s Office of Legal Counsel, Steven Engel, told White House counsel Pat Cipollone that McGahn and other advisers to the president cannot be compelled to testify.
“We provide the same answer the Department of Justice has repeatedly provided for nearly five decades: Congress may not constitutionally compel the president’s senior advisers to testify about their official duties,” Engel wrote. “Those principles apply to the former White House Counsel. Accordingly, Mr. McGahn is not legally required to appear and testify about matters related to his official duties as counsel to the president.”
Republicans on the committee questioned the need to force McGahn to testify, rather than negotiating with the administration. “Everything else has become a race to get a headline,” said the panel’s top Republican, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia. “Don’t undercut congressional oversight because you can’t wait.”
After about 20 minutes of statements from Nadler and Collins, the committee voted 21-14 to adjourn with no testimony from McGahn and no announcement of how it would try to secure his appearance in the future. Nadler has said previously that McGahn could be held in contempt.
“This is disgraceful,” Rep. Steve Chabot, R-Ohio, said in voting against adjournment.