House Committee vows to hold ex-Trump counsel McGahn in contempt over refusal to testify

The House Judiciary Committee will do everything it can to compel former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify, the committee’s chairman has said, vowing to hold McGahn in contempt for refusing to speak before the panel.

Jerry Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, told CNN on Monday that his Democrat-controlled committee would move to hold McGahn in contempt after he declined a request to testify. Holding McGahn accountable would be “the next step” and “the first thing” on the committee’s immediate agenda, Nadler told CNN’s Chris Cuomo.

Earlier on Monday, McGahn’s lawyers communicated their client’s refusal to testify, citing a memorandum from the Office of Legal Counsel advising McGahn that he is “immune from compelled congressional testimony.”

Nadler responded to the letter by warning of “serious consequences” if McGahn failed to appear before the committee, adding that “all enforcement mechanisms” would be used to secure McGahn’s cooperation.

The committee has been seeking a testimony from McGahn over allegations that Trump obstructed justice during the Mueller probe. While the probe turned up zero evidence of collusion, leaving it up to Congress to decide whether Trump obstructed justice, Democrats have been clutching at straws to implicate Trump in any wrongdoing.

The committee has already gone to the same great lengths when it held Attorney William Barr in contempt of Congress for defying their demands for the unredacted Mueller report. However, the censure did not entail much in a practical sense for Barr, being more of a symbolic gesture.

US President Donald Trump has vowed to fight all incoming subpoenas, denouncing the avalanche of requests to testify, sent to his former and current officials, as an encroachment on presidential powers.

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