President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that White House counsel Don McGahn will depart this fall after the vote scheduled to confirm Supreme Court Justice pick Brett Kavanaugh.
Earlier this month, The New York Times had reported that McGahn had spoken “extensively” to special counsel Robert Mueller, who is leading the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and potential collusion between Trump campaign officials and the Russian government. It was also recently revealed that the president’s legal team was not completely aware of everything McGhan told the special counsel. Mueller continues to investigate Trump’s tweets and actions for possible obstruction of justice.
“I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service,” Trump wrote about McGahn on Twitter:
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McGahn was reportedly interviewed as part of the Russia inquiry for around 30 hours over the past nine months.
According to CNN, former Bill Clinton impeachment lawyer Emmet Flood — one of Trump’s top attorneys — is a top contender to replace McGahn, who had been working with the Trump campaign since the 2016 election.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley stated this week that Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearing is scheduled to start in just a few days.
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Trump also reportedly ordered McGahn to pressure Attorney General Jeff Sessions to not recuse himself from Mueller’s probe, although Sessions eventually did so in March 2017. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has since been the top Justice Department official involved in helping Mueller lead the Russia investigation. Trump has publicly railed against Sessions multiple times for recusing himself.
McGahn, a former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission, also reportedly refused to obey Trump when the president told him to fire Mueller.
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