April 23 (UPI) — The head of the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena on Monday seeking testimony from former White House counsel Don McGahn as part of a probe into possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump and others.
Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., announced that he had subpoenaed McGahn because he was a “critical witness to many of the alleged instances of obstruction of justice and other misconduct” described in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report on his probe into Trump and his 2016 campaign team.
“His testimony will help shed further light on the president’s attacks on the rule of law and his attempts to cover up those actions by lying to the American people and requesting others do the same,” Nadler said.
Nadler said the committee is seeking documents from McGahn by May 7 and public testimony by May 21.
McGahn held at least three voluntary interviews spanning a total of 30 hours with Mueller’s investigative team, in which he provided “a clear view of the president’s most intimate moments with his lawyer” according to a New York Times report from August of last year.
According to the report, McGahn shared details about the firing of former FBI director James Comey, Trump’s desire to have Attorney General Jeff Sessions oversee the Russia probe and Trump’s attempts to fire Mueller.
Trump announced McGahn’s departure from the White House shortly after the report, while also criticizing news outlets he said gave the impression McGahn had “turned” on him and provided too much information to Mueller’s investigations.
During his time at the White House McGahn played an instrumental role in the nominations of Supreme Court Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
