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WASHINGTON – Donald F. McGahn II, key witness of the Mueller report against President Trump in the Mueller II report, has asked at least twice in the past month to publicly declare that he had never believed that the president was obstructing justice, according to two people requests.
Mr McGahn, who was the first White House lawyer to chair the presidency, declined, said one of the people. His reluctance angered Trump, who said Mr. McGahn was disloyal in informing investigators of the special council, Robert S. Mueller III, of Trump's attempts to keep control of the investigation. on Russia.
The White House sent one of the requests to Mr. McGahn's lawyer, William A. Burck, prior to the publication of the Mueller report, but after the Department of Justice provided a copy to Mr. Trump's lawyers. In reading the report, the president's lawyers found that Mr. Mueller had ignored Mr. McGahn's statement to the investigators that he was satisfied that Mr. Trump had never interfered with the trial of justice. Mr. Burck had told them months earlier that his client had shared this belief with the investigators.
Mr. McGahn initially heard the request from the White House. But after the release of the report, detailing the various actions undertaken by Mr. Trump to try to obstruct the investigation, Mr. McGahn refused to issue a statement. The report also included Mr. Trump's comments to his associates on how he believed Mr. McGahn had leaked his reputation to the media.
The episode shows the efforts the White House has made to circumvent the publication of the Mueller report in order to rebuff the idea that Mr. Trump would have obstructed justice. Democrats in the House used the report to launch investigations to determine whether Mr. Trump had abused his position to avoid these investigations.
The revelations took place when Democrats increased their pressure on the White House on other fronts on Friday. The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard E. Neal, has summoned the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service for six years to file Trump's personal and corporate income tax returns. Democrats are also Following the testimony of Mr. Mueller but not having agreed on a date, the New York representative, Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the House, told reporters.
White House officials felt that Mr. McGahn would publicly assert that it would calm the president and help the administration to repel the episodes described by Mr. Mueller in the obstruction portion of the report, said one of the people. Neither one nor the other would be named, describing private conversations with the White House and expressing themselves under the guise of anonymity.
"We did not see it as a kind of threat or something sinister," Burck said in a statement. "It was a professional and cordial request." A White House spokesperson did not immediately return a message asking for comment.
White House officials again asked McGahn to release a statement a few days after the report was released, while Trump had railed at McGahn's revelations, but he also rejected the statement. second request.
At about the same time, the president's lawyer, Rudolph W. Giuliani, began to publicly attack Mr. McGahn and questioned his credibility, saying he had a bad memory. "We can not take it as planned," said Giuliani. Mr. McGahn's account one day after the publication of the report. "This could be the product of an inaccurate memory or could be the product of something else."
Mr. McGahn's cooperation with Mr. Mueller has been instrumental in allowing investigators of the Special Council to paint a picture of a determined president using his power at the top of the executive power to protect himself from the investigation of Russia .
The president's lawyers are particularly concerned about two episodes that Mr. McGahn has detailed to prosecutors. In one of them, Mr. Trump asked him to dismiss the special advocate, but shrank from Mr. McGahn's refusal. After the revelation of this episode, the president asked Mr. McGahn to create a White House document falsely refuting his account. Mr. McGahn refused, but informed Mr. Mueller of the meetings.
From a legal point of view, the fact that Mr. McGahn is of the opinion that Mr. Trump has obstructed justice does not change anything. It's a decision made by prosecutors, not by witnesses. But politically, such a statement could have been a powerful argument for Mr. Trump, who faces scrutiny from Democrats in the House and who seeks to know if he has impeded justice and abused his power.
The Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee summoned Mr. McGahn to appear. But White House advisers said they would try to prevent him from appearing before lawmakers. Trump said there was no reason for McGahn to speak to congressional investigators because he had worked so closely with Mueller's team.
"I've already had her testify for 30 hours and it's really – so I do not think I can leave it and then tell everyone you can not," Trump said. from an interview with Fox News last week. "Especially him, because he was a lawyer, so they testified for many hours, all, many, many, many people. I can not say, "Well, we can and others can not." I would say it's done. "
Mr. McGahn left the White House last year but is still entangled by the President on matters related to the Mueller investigation. The White House on Tuesday urged Mr. McGahn not to return to the House the documents he had in response to a subpoena. Mr. McGahn has followed the advice of the White House and is now waiting to see if the Democrats will despise him.
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