If they aren’t asserting executive privilege then there is no reason for McGahn to ignore the committee’s demand. It will be interesting to see if McGahn complies on time. It would be one of those little things that pokes a wider hole in the dam. I’m getting more and more convinced that the fall of Trump won’t come from 1 big thing, but from an accumulation of smaller events like this.
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McGahn is no longer an employee of the White House - if I was McGahn, I’d tell Pat Cipollone “thanks for your suggestion” while complying with the subpoena.
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‘No collusion, no obstruction, no discussion and BY GOD no facts!’
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So, basically they’ve ordered McGhan to risk jail to protect Trump for no legally cognizable reason and without taking any steps to give him a shred of cover.
Yeah, that’s the Trump touch, alright.
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I am getting the sense that one reason the House leadership is resistant to impeachment is that by their actions it seems that the White House is trying to trigger impeachment hearings. Maybe the administration thinks the majority of people don’t care enough about separation of powers, and can be stampeded into the view that “the Democrats are trying to undo the election!”
I think this is EXACTLY what’s happening. The regime wants the Dems to push for actual impeachment knowing that the public isn’t there with them and take advantage of a narrative that they’re trying to - uh, “color” the upcoming presidential elections. It would only backfire on us and give them an advantage.
When Dems push for these hearings, they do the same thing.
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Executive privilege is actually mentioned in the letter, instead of the usual just asserting “stuff.” However, the letter also does mention other “stuff,” so it’s not clear if privilege is being asserted on everything. Of course, they don’t want it to be clear. The less clear they are, the longer they can drag the process out.
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The White House is directing McGahn not to produce “any” documents.
There will now be a Court battle about each and every kind of document referred to in the subpoena. This will go on for months.
Note that McGahn is still free to testify in person. Although I anticipate that the White House will in due course–in order to keep running the clock–direct him not to offer testimony on any matter that may implicate the confidentiality of Executive discussions. In which case he will not give evidence, even if the matters in question have already been ventilated by the Special Counsel.
This is all entirely predictable, of course. The question, as ever, is what Democrats plan to do about it.
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No part of McGahn wants to do damage to a Republican President. He’ll take every possible legal step to avoid testifying and producing documents. And once every single legal avenue is exhausted he’ll appeal every loss to a higher court and start anew. He has everything to gain by being loyal, so long as he makes it clear his loyalty is to the party and the office, and less so to Trump. The people that matter to him will support him, and the people unhappy with his response and tactics don’t matter to him or the party anyway.
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I think a McGahn “go fund me” would be successful, but I would hope that a legal team putting our country before trump’s wishes would be willing to help pro bono if necessary.
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I have been struck by the indifference with which the country has met all this stonewalling and obstruction from the White House. Having spent several long periods living in a lawless country–the Soviet Union and Russia–I’ve always held the rule of law and our system of checks and balances as sacred. They are the sole guarantors of a decent country that works tolerably well. I really thought this was broadly understood. I hope I am more right than it appears at the moment.
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I wonder if the Republicans are thinking of the long term consequences of their actions?
The next time a Republican Congress issues subpoenas to a Democratic President?
Dear Congressman X,
NO.
Sincerely,
The White House Intern Lawyer.
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You just wait and see!! They’re thinking about doing something, right now!! Well, not right now. Maybe in June. They’ll get back with us on it.
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McGahn complying with the Dems’ subpoena would be a significant statement in GOP land. It will tell GOPers that Trump is a sinking ship as assessed by one of the architects of the conservative judiciary, the lynchpin of the conservative movement. They’ll pillory McGahn on Fox and talk radio, but they’ll all know he’s right, and that will condition the behavior of others. Little things can blow this thing wide open.
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They are counting on there never being another Democratic president or Senate. Hence, voter suppression.
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They’re waiting until the last minute because they’re running clock. History has shown us how this works. The longer all of this goes on, the more it becomes normalized and the better their chances of getting away with it.
Democrats will set a new deadline, and they’ll violate that deadline too while requesting another form of an extension. Eventually this will all get to the courts, where it will work through impediment after impediment (including inevitably being decided by some Republican-appointed judge) while gradually working its way to the Republican-led Supreme Court.
Calling this Calvinball nails it. Dems are insisting that according to the rules it’s their turn while Republicans are eating the game board.
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I’ve always held the rule of law and our system of checks and balances as sacred. They are the sole guarantors of a decent country that works tolerably well.
As this country is finding out the hard way, the strength of “checks and balances” is really contingent upon other forces that have to be in play for it to stick. Otherwise, - well, here we are…
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He’ll clam up and do as he’s told.
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Agree with you, though I’m also feeling like the House either needs to begin impeachment proceedings or STFU.
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McGahn doesn’t strike me as a John Dean type. I cannot envision him appearing on a show like Rachel’s in future years. I would probably more likely be seeing Cohen doing that.
That said, McGahn does strike me as a person 110% interested in himself. Whether McGahn thinks being second or fifth or 20th in line is the best for HIM, when the Hammer Comes Down on Trump…
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Maybe/Probably. Dems have a strong case to get the docs b/c they waived privilege when they allowed him to testify and a lot of his testimony is public. There are over 100 references to him in the unredacted portion of the Mueller Report. So this is not a close call legally. But if McGahn were to simply follow through on what he did in front of Mueller (cover his own ass) then I think that would be a significant event. Having already thrown Trump under the bus, it really wouldn’t take very much for him to hand over docs.
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