Former US President Donald Trump ordered his top White House lawyer to make a false statement at the height of the Mueller investigation, even though he knew lying could have criminal consequences for both, testimony says recently unearthed from Congress.
Donald McGahn, who served as Trump’s first White House lawyer, told members of the House Judiciary Committee during a closed hearing last week that the ex-president asked him to release a statement in February 2018 denying ever attempting to fire former FBI Director Robert Mueller, who was charged with investigating the obstruction of the 2016 election, according to a 241-page transcript of testimony released Wednesday.
Trump knew the statement “would not have been accurate” since he had ordered McGahn months earlier to orchestrate Mueller’s dismissal – a request McGahn refused, he said.
Trump also knew at the time that McGahn had already told Mueller investigators the truth and that the special advocate would not agree to the White House attorney giving conflicting accounts of a key episode in his investigation for find out if the former president obstructed justice, according to the testimony.
“[Mueller] had previously stated publicly that he was going after various people for this, and that is certainly an issue that would weigh on anyone’s mind, ”McGahn said, referring to the crimes of misrepresentation, according to the transcript.
Nonetheless, Trump continued to pressure McGahn, making him feel “trapped,” he said.
“Frustrated, disturbed, trapped,” he told lawmakers. “Lots of emotions … Trapped because the President had the same conversation with me over and over, and I thought I expressed my point of view and offered my advice, and we still had the same conversation.”
One of the Judicial Committee investigators asked McGahn during the June 4 hearing if he agreed with the characterization that Trump was asking him to “do crazy things” by first demanding the dismissal of Mueller, then asking for a statement claiming this never happened.
“I think it’s fair,” McGahn replied.
Trump tried to prevent McGahn from testifying before the House Judiciary Committee for years, but the panel’s chairman, New York Representative Jerry Nadler, ultimately prevailed in court.
In a statement on Wednesday, Nadler said McGahn’s testimony provided “first-hand accounts of President Trump’s increasingly uncontrollable behavior” as Mueller deepened his campaign’s ties with Russia and possible obstruction of this survey.
“All in all, Mr. McGahn’s testimony gives us a new look at how dangerously close President Trump brought us, in Mr. McGahn’s words, to the ‘point of no return’,” the Democrat said. from New York.
After investigating Trump for nearly two years, Mueller concluded in his special advocate report that he had not uncovered enough evidence to recommend that the former president or his campaign aides be charged with direct collusion in Russia’s attack on the 2016 elections.
However, Mueller notably never exonerated Trump of obstructing his investigation.
In his report, Mueller listed 10 individual cases of potential obstruction crimes committed by the former president.
After Mueller’s investigation was completed, Trump was impeached twice for conduct related to the 2020 election.
The former president maintains to this day that every investigation into his various alleged wrongdoing is part of an infamous political “witch hunt.” (tca / dpa / NAN)
