Federal judge says former White House counsel Don McGahn must speak to House: 'Presidents are not kings'
Washington (CNN)A
federal judge decided Monday that President Donald Trump's former White
House counsel Don McGahn must testify to the House of Representatives
in its impeachment probe.
"However
busy or essential a presidential aide might be, and whatever their
proximity to sensitive domestic and national-security projects, the
President does not have the power to excuse him or her from taking an
action that the law requires," Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote.
"Stated
simply, the primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded
American history is that Presidents are not kings," Jackson said.
The
ruling is a blow to Trump and White House efforts to block parts of the
impeachment inquiry. It could encourage resistant witnesses from the
administration to testify and could bolster any case House Democrats
make to impeach the President for obstructing its proceedings or
obstructing justice.
The
Justice Department plans to appeal the ruling in the McGahn case, a
department spokeswoman said. An attorney for McGahn said the former
White House counsel would testify, unless the case is paused for
appeals.
"Don
McGahn will comply with Judge Jackson's decision unless it is stayed
pending appeal," McGahn's private attorney, William Burck, said Monday
following the ruling.
In this case, McGahn is represented by the Justice Department.
The
House Judiciary Committee has been trying to force McGahn to testify
since April about the President's attempts to obstruct the investigation
into Russian meddling in the 2016 US presidential election. The
committee says it still has an urgent need to hear from the key
witnesses from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
Brown criticized the Justice Department's broad claims of immunity.
"To
make the point as plain as possible ... with respect to senior-level
presidential aides, absolute immunity from compelled congressional
process simply does not exist," Jackson wrote.
"Indeed,"
she added, "absolute testimonial immunity for senior-level White House
aides appears to be a fiction that has been fastidiously maintained over
time through the force of sheer repetition in (Office of Legal Counsel)
opinions, and through accommodations that have permitted its proponents
to avoid having the proposition tested in the crucible of litigation."
Executive privilege
The
ruling stops short of saying White House officials must answer all
questions they're asked before Congress. Instead, the ruling focuses on
whether an official like McGahn must appear for testimony once
subpoenaed.
"If a duly authorized
committee of Congress issues a valid legislative subpoena to a current
or former senior-level presidential aide, the law requires the aide to
appear as directed, and assert executive privilege as appropriate," the
judge wrote in the 120-page opinion Monday.
If
McGahn were to appear for testimony, he still may be able to refuse to
answer questions, citing executive privilege. She referred to a case
involving President George W. Bush's White House counsel Harriet Miers.
"Accordingly,
just as with Harriet Miers before him, Donald McGahn 'must appear
before the Committee to provide testimony, and invoke executive
privilege where appropriate,'" Jackson wrote.
Jackson notes in her opinion Monday that even the President himself may not be immune from testimony.
"Even
with respect to the underlying contention that the President himself is
entitled to absolute testimonial immunity, Miers found binding Supreme
Court cases that compelled the opposite conclusion," Jackson wrote.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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