Political Wire

  • Front Page
  • Members
    • Subscribe
    • Members FAQ
    • Sign In
    • Exclusive Analysis
    • My Favorites
  • Resources
    • Political Calendar
    • Political Job Hunt
    • Political Dictionary
    • Electoral Vote Map
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter
  • Contact Us
You are here: Home / Archives for Donald McGahn

Democrats Ready Lawsuit to Enforce McGahn Subpoena

August 7, 2019 at 1:28 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As early as Wednesday, Democrats are expected to file a lawsuit to enforce their subpoena for former White House counsel Donald McGahn’s testimony, sharply escalating their dispute with the White House by sending the fight over a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to court for a resolution,” ABC News reports.

Filed Under: House of Representatives Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Trump Suggests McGahn Lied to Mueller

June 14, 2019 at 6:01 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump told ABC News that it “doesn’t matter” what his former White House counsel Don McGahn told special counsel Robert Mueller.

Trump says McGahn “may have been confused” when he told Mueller that Trump instructed him multiple times to have the acting attorney general remove the special counsel because of perceived conflicts of interest.

When asked why McGahn would lie under oath, Trump said: “Because he wanted to make himself look like a good lawyer. Or he believed it because I would constantly tell anybody that would listen — including you, including the media — that Robert Mueller was conflicted. Robert Mueller had a total conflict of interest.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

McGahn Is a No Show

May 21, 2019 at 10:58 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Former White House Counsel Don McGahn defied a congressional subpoena Tuesday by declining to testify before the House Judiciary Committee at the direction of the White House,” Bloomberg reports.

“The hearing room chair reserved for McGahn sat empty behind microphones, as committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler of New York opened the scheduled hearing.”

Said Nadler: “This conduct is not remotely acceptable. Let me be clear: This committee will hear Mr. McGahn’s testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Unlock Political Wire for more.

Join for as low as $6 per month. Learn more.

Already a member? Sign in here.

 

Trump Will Instruct McGahn to Defy Subpoena

May 20, 2019 at 2:17 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“President Trump is preparing to instruct his former White House counsel, Donald McGahn, to defy a congressional subpoena and skip a hearing scheduled for Tuesday, denying Democrats testimony from one of the most important eyewitnesses to Mr. Trump’s attempts to obstruct the Russia investigation,” the New York Times reports.

“If Mr. McGahn does not appear before the committee on Tuesday, he risks a contempt of Congress citation. At the same time, if he defies the White House, Mr. McGahn could not only damage his own career in Republican politics but also put his law firm, Jones Day, at risk of having the president urge his allies to withhold their business. The firm’s Washington practice is closely affiliated with the party.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Trump Says He Wanted to Fire McGahn

May 12, 2019 at 8:42 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump tweeted he was “never a big fan of” former White House Counsel Don McGahn.

Said Trump: “I was NOT going to fire Bob Mueller, and did not fire Bob Mueller. In fact, he was allowed to finish his Report with unprecedented help from the Trump Administration. Actually, lawyer Don McGahn had a much better chance of being fired than Mueller. Never a big fan!”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

White House Orders McGahn to Rebuff Subpoena

May 7, 2019 at 11:34 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House counsel Pat Cipollone has instructed former counsel Don McGahn to withhold subpoenaed documents from the House Judiciary Committee, the Washington Post reports.

Cipollone said McGahn does not have the legal right to the documents, and the committee must address any request for the materials to the White House.

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

House Judiciary Subpoenas Don McGahn

April 22, 2019 at 5:22 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena for former White House counsel Don McGahn, Axios reports.

“McGahn was a key cooperating witness in the Mueller investigation, shedding light on many of the episodes of potential obstruction by President Trump that Mueller highlighted in his report. The subpoena demands that McGahn testify at a hearing on May 21 and turn over dozens of documents related to Mueller’s investigation by May 7.”

Filed Under: House of Representatives Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Trump Worried McGahn Wore a Wire

April 19, 2019 at 7:18 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Late in Don McGahn’s tenure as White House counsel, President Trump became so suspicious that he wondered aloud whether McGahn was wearing a wire,” a source familiar with the president’s private conversations told Axios.

“We have no evidence that Trump’s suspicions have any basis in reality. But they reveal the depth of his paranoia about his former counsel, who sat for many hours with Robert Mueller’s team of prosecutors.”

“Anger at McGahn after the report came out was shared among a number of Trump allies, both inside the White House and close to the president.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Trump Blamed McGahn for Mueller Investigation

October 31, 2018 at 1:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Former White House Counsel Don McGahn ended his tumultuous tenure at the White House with one last encounter in which President Donald Trump blamed him for Robert Mueller’s appointment,” CNN reports.

“In a face-to-face Oval Office meeting, the President groused to McGahn about Mueller’s appointment made on McGahn’s watch as White House counsel, and the cloud the investigation has continued to cast over the presidency.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

McGahn Out as White House Counsel

October 17, 2018 at 10:27 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“White House counsel Don McGahn’s final day at the White House was Wednesday,” CNN reports.

“McGahn has been planning to leave the White House, but a source told CNN his departure was expedited after President Trump said Tuesday he had selected Patrick Cipolloneas his successor.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Trump and McGahn Just Avoid Each Other

August 30, 2018 at 7:06 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “People who know both men said their mutual frustrations are often manifested in silence, rather than massive blow-ups… One outside associate of McGahn’s said it always bothered Trump that McGahn was ‘his own man and wouldn’t kowtow to him.’”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

News of McGahn’s Departure Was Surprise to McGahn

August 29, 2018 at 1:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

President Trump’s announcement of White House counsel Donald McGahn’s departure this fall “came as a surprise, including to McGahn,” the Washington Post reports.

Said one person close to McGahn: “He was surprised.”

“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.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Grassley Warns Trump to Keep McGahn

August 29, 2018 at 12:29 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In a rare warning from a leading Republican lawmaker, Senate Judiciary Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA) told President Trump to keep Don McGahn as the top White House lawyer,” Roll Call reports.

“Trump announced Wednesday that McGahn would leave his White House post this fall, but after the expected confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Grassley reacted to the announcement with his own tweet, expressing concern with the coming departure of an attorney who has urged the president to fully cooperate with Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller’s Russia election meddling probe.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Charles Grassley, Donald McGahn

McGahn Will Leave White House Soon

August 29, 2018 at 6:36 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Top White House officials and sources close to White House counsel Don McGahn tell Axios that McGahn will step down this fall — after Brett Kavanaugh is confirmed to the Supreme Court, or after the midterms.”

“That potentially puts a successor in charge of fielding a blizzard of requests or subpoenas for documents and testimony if Democrats win control of the House in the midterms. And if the White House winds up fighting special counsel Robert Mueller, an epic constitutional fight could lie ahead.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Dean Says Trump Has a ‘Real Problem’

August 20, 2018 at 7:52 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Nixon White House counsel John Dean told CNN that President Trump “has got a real problem” after the latest revelations regarding White House counsel Don McGahn’s interviews with special counsel investigators.

Said Dean: “I think that’s a lot of testimony, that’s a lot of visiting, and that’s just the bottom of what they know. It could well have been much more than that. It appears to have been ongoing. So, I think Trump has got a real problem here. And I’m not sure how he’s going to handle it.”

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Donald McGahn, John Dean

McGahn Doesn’t Think He Implicated Trump

August 20, 2018 at 7:42 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House counsel Donald McGahn’s attorney, Bill Burck, told President Trump’s lawyers this weekend that McGahn did not assert that Trump engaged in any wrongdoing when he spoke to Mueller’s investigators in three lengthy interviews since last November, the Washington Post reports.

Said Burck: “He did not incriminate him.”

“Burck has assured Trump’s lawyers that McGahn did not witness Trump engaged in any crime and would have resigned from his White House post if he had.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

Trump Didn’t Know How Long McGahn Spent with Mueller

August 20, 2018 at 4:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“White House counsel Don McGahn’s 30 hours of conversations with special counsel Robert Mueller’s team has unnerved President Trump, who didn’t know the full extent of McGahn’s discussions,” CNN reports.

“Trump was spending another weekend at his New Jersey golf club when The New York Times first reported McGahn’s cooperation with Mueller’s office… The President was unsettled by the notion that he didn’t know everything McGahn said to the special counsel during their interviews, the sources said. And while he had approved the cooperation, Trump did not know the conversations stretched for 30 hours or that his legal team didn’t conduct a full debriefing with McGahn after the fact.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

McGahn Has Been Cooperating with Mueller

August 18, 2018 at 1:58 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

White House counsel Donald McGahn “has cooperated extensively in the special counsel investigation, sharing detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry into whether President Trump obstructed justice, including some that investigators would not have learned of otherwise,” the New York Times reports.

“In at least three voluntary interviews with investigators that totaled 30 hours over the past nine months, Mr. McGahn described the president’s furor toward the Russia investigation and the ways in which he urged Mr. McGahn to respond to it.”

“For a lawyer to share so much with investigators scrutinizing his client is unusual. Lawyers are rarely so open with investigators, not only because they are advocating on behalf of their clients but also because their conversations with clients are potentially shielded by attorney-client privilege, and in the case of presidents, executive privilege.”

Also interesting: “Mr. McGahn and his lawyer, William Burck, could not understand why Mr. Trump was so willing to allow Mr. McGahn to speak freely to the special counsel and feared Mr. Trump was setting up Mr. McGahn to take the blame for any possible illegal acts of obstruction.”

Filed Under: White House Tagged With: Donald McGahn

  • 1
  • 2
  • Next Page »


Classified Ads

☑️ Get news worthy of your time with Axios. In just a few minutes, you'll catch up on today's top stories. Sign up for free today!

June 30

☑️ Have you have ever wondered if or how the United States might break up? Now available as an audio book: A More Perfect Union: Reimagining The United States as a European Union-style Federation.

June 3

Place an ad.

Your Account

Sign in

Latest for Members

  • What’s Worrying Americans?
  • Down to the Wire In Pennsylvania

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Praise for Political Wire

“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”

— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”

“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”

— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report

“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”

— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report

“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”

— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia

“Political Wire is a great, great site.”

— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”

“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”

— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post

“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”

— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit

“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”

— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.

Copyright © 2022 · Goddard Media LLC | Privacy Policy

Political Wire ® is a registered trademark of Goddard Media LLC