McGahn seen as 'undercover operative' in Trump's White House

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McGahn seen as ‘undercover operative’ in Trump’s White House
Lawyers say that it’s not likely that McGahn coughed up independently damning information but could still help bolster Mueller’s probe.
By ANNIE KARNI and DARREN SAMUELSOHN
08/19/2018 12:51 PM EDT
Updated 08/19/2018 03:49 PM EDT


President Donald Trump is claiming his White House lawyer, Don McGahn, was representing his interests and following his orders when he voluntarily testified before the special counsel in multiple sessions.

And former administration officials said it’s unlikely that McGahn would still be serving in his top position in the administration if he had actually shared incriminating information about the president with Robert Mueller’s team.

“I can’t imagine that McGahn would still be White House counsel if he had produced any damaging information,” said Mark Corallo, a former spokesman for the president’s legal team. “He’d have resigned.”

But the New York Times’ revelation that McGahn has spoken to Mueller’s team for more than 30 hours over the past nine months has lawyers baffled — and noting that McGahn could have still filled in crucial blanks for Mueller, even if he didn’t hand over anything that could jeopardize his boss.

Ross Garber, a criminal defense attorney who served as the in-house counsel for former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, said that it’s particularly notable that McGahn had multiple meetings with the special counsel, and in between those sessions went back to his day job in the White House. “They’ve in a way turned him into an undercover operative in the White House,” Garber said, “and it’s [Trump's] lawyer.”

The New York Times, citing a dozen current and former White House officials, said McGahn had offered Mueller extensive details regarding whether Trump obstructed justice, including the president’s comments about his firing of FBI Director James Comey, the pressure he put on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to take control of the Russia investigation, and the possibility of firing Mueller.

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Trump, one former administration official said, at the beginning of the administration did not immediately grasp the difference between the White House lawyer and his personal lawyer. He expected McGahn to fill a role he has depended on his entire life: an attorney like Roy Cohn, the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s chief counsel, who represented his interests above all.

But McGahn’s job is to protect the office of the president, not Trump the individual.

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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/19/mcgahn-undercover-trump-lawyers-788210?cid=apn