DING DON, THE DAY HAS COME:

Congress finally gets its McGahn testimony

By OLIVIA BEAVERS

DING DON, THE DAY HAS COME: Don McGahn is slated to testify before Congress today (sadly, behind closed-doors). It comes more than 25 months after House Democrats first sought to subpoena the former White House counsel for testimony related to his interviews with Robert Mueller that focused on the Russia interference probe and possible obstruction by Donald Trump.

The White House sought to block McGahn from testifying. Efforts by Democrats to compel testimony from McGahn bounced around the courts for two years, as the White House challenged those attempts at every turn. The fight evolved into a broader battle, centered on the power of the congressional subpoena and the abilities of the legislative branch to conduct oversight over the executive branch.

McGahn’s agreement to testify before the House Judiciary Committee comes with President Joe Biden’s permission and without the former president filing any further legal challenges to his participation. Originally, Trump lawyer Patrick Philbin signaled that the former president planned to intervene, but he reversed course and said they did not plan to intercede after all. It will be transcribed and released within 7 days.

Democrats burned for McGahn’s testimony in 2019, particularly in relation to the second volume of the Mueller report on potential obstruction of justice. McGahn had provided the federal probe with extensive and damaging testimony about Trump’s attempts to remove Mueller.

Refresher: McGahn refused to move to ax the special counsel. He instead prepared to quit, telling other administration officials that Trump had asked him to “do crazy shit.” He even compared the order to fire Mueller to the “Saturday Night Massacre,” the legendary episode in 1973 when then-President Richard Nixon’s attorney general and deputy attorney general both resigned instead of obeying Nixon's orders to fire the special prosecutor probing the Watergate scandal.