House Democrats Introduce Resolution To Hold Attorney General In Contempt

CNN is reporting that Democrats in the House of Representatives have introduced a resolution meant to empower committees to go to court to enforce their subpoenas in an effort to give committee chairmen an effective way to hold officials in contempt while bypassing the House floor.

The plan comes after Donald Trump's Attorney General, William Barr, and former White House counsel Don McGahn have stonewalled efforts by Democrats to get subpoenaed documents from the Trump administration.

The Democrats' resolution next week to hold Attorney General William Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt and take those cases to court will also include language stating that committees can move to hold officials in contempt of Congress, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said this week.

The resolution will also include language directing the House to petition the courts to obtain grand jury information contained in the Mueller report.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler pushed for the move in recent weeks as House leadership decided to wait to hold a floor vote on contempt for Barr until they could package officials together. Now committees themselves would be empowered to use civil contempt citations to go to court to enforce their subpoena.

“House Democrats have formally introduced a resolution to hold Attorney General Bill Barr and former White House counsel Don McGahn in contempt of Congress.”

Keep the pressure on! https://t.co/REp5Hm7eoo

— Amy Siskind 🏳️‍🌈 (@Amy_Siskind) June 6, 2019

Committee Chair To Don McGahn: "Our Subpoenas Are Not Optional"

Former White House lawyer Don McGahn chose to defy a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday morning.

While the House reps showed up, Chairman Jerrold Nadler was irritated upon seeing an empty chair instead of McGahn.

In a statement, Nadler told the chamber, “Our subpoenas are not optional,” and declared that “this committee will hear McGahn’s testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it.”

.@RepJerryNadler: "When this committee issues a subpoena -- even to a senior presidential adviser -- the witness must show up. Our subpoenas are not optional."

Nadler goes on to describe McGahn's failure to appear "as part of [Trump's] broader efforts to cover up his misconduct" pic.twitter.com/PGRwVasbTc

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 21, 2019

NADLER: "Let me be clear: This committee will hear McGahn's testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it... we will not allow POTUS to block congressional subpoenas, putting himself & his allies above the law... we will hold POTUS accountable one way or the other." pic.twitter.com/BreoMf5H1D

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 21, 2019

What is Don McGahn hiding? What is @realDonaldTrump hiding from the American people?

We will hold McGahn in contempt. We will litigate this in the courts. And we will win. pic.twitter.com/EZGR8OeO0q

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 21, 2019

Mnuchin deserves to be in jail. McGahn deserves to be in jail. If you or I ignored a Congressional subpoena, we would be in jail. Are we a nation of laws? Or are we a nation of outlaws?

— Barbara Malmet (@B52Malmet) May 21, 2019

White House Asked Former Trump Lawyer Twice To Say He Didn't Obstruct Justice

Donald Trump

The New York Times is reporting that Don McGahn, Donald Trump's first White House counsel, was asked by Trump administration officials on two separate occasions to publicly say he didn't believe Trump obstructed the Mueller investigation.

Mr. Trump asked White House officials to make the request to Mr. McGahn, who was the president’s first White House counsel, one of the people said. Mr. McGahn declined. His reluctance angered the president, who believed that Mr. McGahn showed disloyalty by telling investigators for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, about Mr. Trump’s attempts to maintain control over the Russia investigation.

The White House made one of the requests to Mr. McGahn’s lawyer, William A. Burck, before the Mueller report was released publicly but after the Justice Department gave a copy to Mr. Trump’s lawyers in the preceding days. Reading the report, the president’s lawyers saw that Mr. Mueller left out that Mr. McGahn had told investigators that he believed the president never obstructed justice. Mr. Burck had told them months earlier about his client’s belief on the matter and that he had shared it with investigators.

Mr. McGahn initially entertained the White House request. “We did not perceive it as any kind of threat or something sinister,” Mr. Burck said in a statement. “It was a request, professionally and cordially made.”

A White House spokeswoman did not respond to a message seeking comment.

White House officials made a second request a few days after the release of the Mueller report. McGahn demurred again.

More from Trump World:

• Rudy Giuliani has called off his previously announced trip to Ukraine where he planned to encourage an investigation regarding former Vice President Joe Biden's son. The move was seen as another attempt by the Trump campaign to seek help from a foreign country.

• The chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Richard E. Neal, subpoenaed the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service for six years of Mr. Trump’s personal and business tax returns.

• Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee are pursuing testimony from Special Counsel Robert Mueller, but an official date has not been agreed to.

Report: White House Counsel Has Been Cooperating "Extensively" With Robert Mueller Investigation

Donald Trump

According to a new report from The New York Times, White House counsel Don McGahn has been cooperating with the special counsel investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election as well as Donald Trump's possible obstruction of justice in firing former FBI Director James Comey.

From The New York Times:

The White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, has cooperated extensively in the special counsel investigation, sharing detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry into whether President Trump obstructed justice, including some that investigators would not have learned of otherwise, according to a dozen current and former White House officials and others briefed on the matter.

In at least three voluntary interviews with investigators that totaled 30 hours over the past nine months, Mr. McGahn described the president’s fury toward the Russia investigation and the ways in which he urged Mr. McGahn to respond to it. He provided the investigators examining whether Mr. Trump obstructed justice a clear view of the president’s most intimate moments with his lawyer.

Among them were Mr. Trump’s comments and actions during the firing of the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, and Mr. Trump’s obsession with putting a loyalist in charge of the inquiry, including his repeated urging of Attorney General Jeff Sessions to claim oversight of it. Mr. McGahn was also centrally involved in Mr. Trump’s attempts to fire the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, which investigators might not have discovered without him.

The NY Times goes on to say that McGahn "viewed his role as protector of the presidency, not of Mr. Trump."

McGahn's full cooperation was apparently motivated by suspicions "that the president had decided to let Mr. McGahn take the fall for decisions that could be construed as obstruction of justice, like the Comey firing, by telling the special counsel that he was only following shoddy legal advice from Mr. McGahn."

The Trumpster slapped back at the "failing" NY Times saying it was all a lot of nonsense because Trump "allowed him and all others to testify."

Cue the Twitter rant:

The failing @nytimes wrote a Fake piece today implying that because White House Councel Don McGahn was giving hours of testimony to the Special Councel, he must be a John Dean type “RAT.” But I allowed him and all others to testify - I didn’t have to. I have nothing to hide......

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

....and have demanded transparency so that this Rigged and Disgusting Witch Hunt can come to a close. So many lives have been ruined over nothing - McCarthyism at its WORST! Yet Mueller & his gang of Dems refuse to look at the real crimes on the other side - Media is even worse!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

No Collusion and No Obstruction, except by Crooked Hillary and the Democrats. All of the resignations and corruption, yet heavily conflicted Bob Mueller refuses to even look in that direction. What about the Brennan, Comey, McCabe, Strzok lies to Congress, or Crooked’s Emails!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

The Failing New York Times wrote a story that made it seem like the White House Councel had TURNED on the President, when in fact it is just the opposite - & the two Fake reporters knew this. This is why the Fake News Media has become the Enemy of the People. So bad for America!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

Some members of the media are very Angry at the Fake Story in the New York Times. They actually called to complain and apologize - a big step forward. From the day I announced, the Times has been Fake News, and with their disgusting new Board Member, it will only get worse!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018

Study the late Joseph McCarthy, because we are now in period with Mueller and his gang that make Joseph McCarthy look like a baby! Rigged Witch Hunt!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 19, 2018