Politics

Don McGahn Testifying On Russia Investigation After Two-Year Subpoena Battle

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Ex-White House Council Don McGahn will testify to the House Judiciary Committee behind closed doors over former President Donald Trump’s efforts to obstruct the Russia investigation.

The testimony arrives nearly two years after House Democrats first requested it. McGahn, who was referenced multiple times in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report, defied a subpoena to testify from April 2019. Democrats subsequently took him to court.

Though the committee ultimately won the suit, the panel likely will not learn anything new from Friday’s testimony. Under the agreement, McGahn will only receive questions about information that was publicly available in Mueller’s redacted report, according to the Associated Press.

Mueller’s report, released in March 2019, found that the former president did not collude with the Russians during the 2016 presidential election, but declined to judge whether Trump had obstructed the investigation as it was underway.

The report noted how Trump had urged McGahn to convince then-Attorney General Jeff Sessions not to recuse himself from the Russia investigation, and how the former president tried to tell McGahn to remove Mueller from the probe due to perceived conflicts of interest.

It is not immediately clear what House Democrats will do with the testimony given that Trump is no longer president.

A court filing describing the agreement between McGahn and the panel shows that Trump was not involved in the discussions leading up to the decision.

Trump spokesman Jason Miller told Politico last month that Trump had not agreed to the deal and was instead “evaluating his options for fully protecting the privilege that continues to cover his communications with his closest advisors.”