The White House on Tuesday instructed former administration attorney Donald F. McGahn not to comply with a subpoena from House Democrats as the fight over investigations into President Trump reaches a crescendo.
Current White House counsel Pat Cipollone sent a letter to Mr. McGahn’s attorney, William Burck ordering him not to hand over documents detailing Mr. Trump’s efforts to fire special counsel Robert Mueller.
“The White House records remain legally protected from disclosure under longstanding constitutional principles because they implicate significant Executive Branch confidential interest and executive privilege,” Mr. Cipollone wrote.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, New York Democrat, had subpoenaed Mr. McGahn for access to his records related to efforts to fire Mr. Mueller.
That episode was one of 10 moves by the president that may be possible obstruction of justice, according to the Mueller report. Ultimately, the incident did not amount to obstruction, Mr. Mueller said, because the investigation would have continued under a different special counsel and Mr. McGahn refused to be the president’s hatchet man.
Mr. Cipollone also sent a similar letter to Mr. Nadler saying Mr. McGhan “does not have any legal right to disclose such records.”
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders also signaled Tuesday the administration is preparing for a fight over Mr. McGahn’s documents.
Asked if the White House will comply with the Democrats’ subpoenas for Mr. McGahn’s documents, Mrs. Sanders told ABC News, “I don’t anticipate that that takes place.”
Mr. Cipollone also asked Mr. Nadler to redirect his request for the records to the White House, The Times said.
Democrats had set a deadline of 10 a.m Tuesday for Mr. McGahn to hand over the documents. He was the first current or former member of the Trump administration to be issued a subpoena since the redacted version of the Mueller report was released last month.
Mr. Nadler has not publicly responded to the letter. He could still initiate contempt proceedings against Mr. McGahn for not handing over the documents. The chairman has already threatened a contempt vote against Attorney General William P. Barr, who has refused Democrats’ demands to turn over the unreacted Mueller report along with underlying evidence.
The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Rep. Doug Collins of Georgia, called on Democrats to negotiate with the administration for the records.
“The White House is nevertheless seeking to accommodate Democrats’ unwieldy demands,” he said in a statement. “I hope chairman Nadler accepts this reasonable offer rather than continuing to reject good faith offers to negotiate.”
Democrats are seeking documents of communications that Mr. McGahn may have had with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, former FBI Director James B. Comey and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding the firing or resignations of key officials, including Mr. Mueller. They have also asked for records related to Mr. Trump’s efforts to have Mr. McGahn write a false document recanting what he told investigators
The subpoena also instructs Mr. McGahn to appear before the committee on May 21.
Mr. McGahn is cited more than any other witness in the Mueller report.
In June 2017, the president ordered Mr. McGahn to fire the special counsel after reports surfaced Mr. Mueller had started an obstruction of justice inquiry, the report said. Mr. Trump called Mr. McGahn at home and directed him to call the acting attorney general to say that Mr. Mueller must be fired because of “conflicts of interest,” according to the report.
Fearing a potential “Saturday Night Massacre,” Mr. McGahn refused, indicating he would rather resign than fire Mr. Mueller, the report said.
Ultimately, Mr. McGahn stayed.
Mr. McGahn eventually left the administration in October 2018 after having a key role in pushing Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh’s confirmation through the Senate last summer.
Since the Mueller report was released, the White House has moved to discredit Mr. McGahn. Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani last month questioned the veracity of what Mr. McGahn told the special counsel.
“It can’t be taken at face value,” Mr. Giuliani said in an interview with The New York Times. “It could be the product of an inaccurate recollection or could be the product of something else.”
Mr. Burck fired back at the president’s current attorney.
“It’s a mystery why Rudy Giuliani feels the need to relitigate incidents the attorney general and deputy attorney general have concluded were not obstruction,” Mr. Burck told The Times in April.”But they are accurately described in the report.”
Mr. Trump himself also took a veiled shot at Mr. McGahn on Twitter one day after the release of the Mueller report.
“Watch out for people that take so-called ’notes,’ when the notes never existed until needed,” Mr. Trump tweeted in a likely reference to the notes Mr. McGahn handed over to the special counsel.
• Dave Boyer contributed to this article.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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