White House counsel Don McGahn has provided special counsel Robert Mueller’s office with detailed accounts of interest to federal authorities investigating whether President Trump obstructed justice, The New York Times reported Saturday.
Mr. McGahn has given at least three voluntary interviews with the special counsel’s office since late 2017, spending roughly 30 hours speaking with Mr. Mueller’s team about various matters being investigated in relation to the FBI’s probe of the 2016 presidential race and its winner’s conduct in office, the newspaper reported.
According to The Times, Mr. McGahn has spoken to the federal investigators about matters including Mr. Trump’s firing of former FBI director James Comey in May 2017, as well as the president’s reported efforts to remove the special counsel himself.
Mr. Trump terminated Mr. Comey in May 2017 while the latter was leading the FBI’s investigation into alleged Russian interference during the 2016 race. Mr. Mueller was appointed to resume that probe later that month, and his investigation has since widened to include whether the president obstructed justice by firing the bureau’s former director, according to multiple news reports.
Mr. McGahn has served as White House counsel since Mr. Trump’s inauguration in early 2017. The Times previously reported that he threatened to quit last June after Mr. Trump allegedly attempted to have him fire Mr. Mueller, effectively sidelining the special counsel’s ongoing investigation.
Mr. Trump has slammed the special counsel’s Russia probe more than 250 times, The Times reported earlier Saturday, labeling it a “witch hunt” more than 100 times on Twitter alone.
“I allowed White House Counsel Don McGahn, and all other requested members of the White House Staff, to fully cooperate with the Special Counsel,” Mr. Trump tweeted after publication of The Times report Saturday afternoon. “In addition we readily gave over one million pages of documents. Most transparent in history. No Collusion, No Obstruction. Witch Hunt!”
More than 30 individuals have been criminally charged as a result of Mr. Mueller’s probe, including multiple Russian nationals and members of Mr. Trump’s presidential campaign.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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