In a closed-door interview on June 4 with the House Judiciary Committee, former White House counsel Donald McGahn confirmed to lawmakers that the Former Guy ‘urged him to oust special counsel Robert Mueller, who investigated his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia, according to a transcript released Wednesday.’
McGahn said the Former Guy’s request was a “a point of no return.”
“If the Acting Attorney General received what he thought was a direction from the counsel to the President to remove a special counsel, he would either have to remove the special counsel or resign,” McGahn said. “We are still talking about the ‘Saturday Night Massacre’ decades and decades later.”
McGahn also testified that the Former Guy was deeply obsessed with Mueller’s investigation and would repeat conversations with him about Mueller.
“We were having the same conversation again and again and again, coupled with the fact it was a Saturday and it — you know, after the investiture of Neil Gorsuch, I thought we were going to take a little pause over the weekend and smile for once. But we did not smile; we continued wanting to talk about conflicts of interest and Bob Mueller,” McGahn said of his phone call with Trump.
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According to the Washington Post:
But in a separate memo, Republican committee staffers characterized McGahn’s testimony as an effort “to rehash the facts and re-litigate the conclusions” of Mueller’s report that ultimately showed “that President Trump and his Administration acted appropriately, ethically, and within legal bounds.”
“Don McGahn testified he observed no collusion with Russia, no obstruction of justice, and no criminal activity during his time as White House Counsel,” the GOP memo reads. “The testimony of McGahn — whom the Democrats called the ‘most important witness besides President Trump in their investigation’ — affirms the President’s reasonable frustration with the probe.”
