Don McGahn, White House Counsel Who Helped Reshape Federal Judiciary, To Step Down
White House counsel Don McGahn is resigning this autumn after a tumultuous stretch as President Trump’s in-house lawyer.
Trump announced the departure on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
Donald J. Trump✔@realDonaldTrump
White House Counsel Don McGahn will be leaving his position in the fall, shortly after the confirmation (hopefully) of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court. I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!
Flood was a law clerk for Judge Ralph K. Winter of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit and for Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States Antonin Scalia.[9][10] Flood advised President Bill Clinton during his impeachment process.[11] Flood’s law firm also represented Hillary Clinton on matters relating to the Clinton email controversy.[11] Flood represented Dick Cheney in response to Wilson v. Cheney, a civil lawsuit filed by Valerie Plame for his alleged role in the Plame affair.[7][12] Flood advised Bob McDonnell on his response to the corruption investigation into his activities.[13][14] Flood was retained by Cameron International to defend them after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.[15][16] In 2017, Flood was offered a job in the Trump Administration, though he declined.[11] In March, 2018, Flood met with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office to discuss the White House’s response to the Special Counsel investigation.[17] On May 2, 2018, it was reported that Flood would be replacing Ty Cobb as the White House attorney dealing with the investigation of President Donald Trump by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.[18] He is a partner at Williams & Connolly.[7][19]
One likely candidate to replace McGahn is Emmet Flood, who joined the president’s legal team in May to focus on the Justice Department’s Russia investigation.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said on Wednesday morning that Trump likes McGahn and that they have a “good relationship. There’s not really a lot to add here.”
Another person close to the White House, however, who asked not to be identified, said that Trump couldn’t stand McGahn and openly complained about him to other White House aides.
Flood was brought in to serve as McGahn’s successor and that transition might already have happened but for Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement, the person said. McGahn convinced Trump to let him stay on to manage the process of selecting and then helping confirm a replacement.
Of Flood, Sanders said, “People like him. He’s super-well-respected around the building, but there’s not a plan locked in place at this point. He hasn’t been offered. That’s not where we are. So we’ll keep you posted on a personnel announcement.”
The person close to the White House told NPR that Flood makes good sense to take over as White House counsel in view of the ongoing Justice Department investigation.
“Emmett has the skill set. He’s handled these things before,” the source said — but added that with Trump, nothing is a done deal until it is done. The president is likely hearing from outside advisers who may try to convince him to choose someone else.
It wasn’t clear on Wednesday whether that might mean Flood would step down too if he is passed over or whether he might stay within the administration in a subsidiary role to another new White House counsel.
The news about McGahn’s resignation disappointed at least one important stakeholder outside the White House: Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, the Republican chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen,” Grassley responded on Twitter.
ChuckGrassley✔@ChuckGrassley
@realDonaldTrump I hope it’s not true McGahn is leaving WhiteHouse Counsel. U can’t let that happen
A spokesman for Grassley later issued a statement to NPR softening his position.
“Senator Grassley has appreciated Mr. McGahn’s work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the president’s record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies,” he said. “From Senator Grassley’s perspective, there’s not been any White House Counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman’s office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.”
Ticking clock
Indications about McGahn’s departure had been growing recently and his days appeared numbered after a New York Times report detailed McGahn’s extensive cooperation with special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into obstruction of justice and possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia.
According to the report, McGahn spoke with Mueller’s team about some of the key events of concern to the Russia inquiry, including Trump’s firing of FBI Director James Comey, his push for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take over the investigation from Mueller and his attempts to fire the special counsel.
The story sparked a series of angry tweets from Trump, saying he encouraged McGahn to cooperate with Mueller. But Trump’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, appeared to know little about what McGahn said in his approximately 30 hours of interviews.
Giuliani told NPR on Wednesday that McGahn’s departure doesn’t have anything to do with his interviews with Mueller’s investigators since the president had known about them for months.
Important insider
McGahn drew criticism early on in the Trump administration for poorly crafted executive orders, which in some cases were struck down by the courts. But the White House lawyer has left a lasting mark on the federal judiciary, spearheading the president’s successful push to pack the bench with conservative judges.
McGahn, a combative former member of the Federal Election Commission, served as Trump’s campaign lawyer. After Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia died in 2016, McGahn, along with the conservative Federalist Society, drew up a list of conservative judges from which Trump promised, if elected, to choose Scalia’s successor.
The White House pulled out that list of judges again in June when Supreme Court Justice Kennedy announced his retirement. McGahn has ushered Trump’s replacement pick, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, through meetings with senators before his September nomination hearings.
Kavanaugh is expected to be confirmed and on the high court in time for its October term. It is not clear precisely when, but between now and then, McGahn will depart the White House.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told Time magazinethe list of possible judges was a key selling point for a lot of social conservatives, “given [Trump’s] own background, which was far from, shall I say, ideologically consistent.”
It was McConnell, of course, who preserved a vacancy on the high court by blocking a Senate vote on President Barack Obama’s nominee to replace Scalia, Merrick Garland. McConnell used similar tactics to hold dozens of seats open on the lower courts.