Trump Administration Seeks to Delay McGahn Ruling for Appeal
Trump Administration Seeks Stay While Appealing McGahn Ruling
(Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Justice Department on Tuesday asked a Washington federal judge to put on hold her ruling compelling former White House Counsel Don McGahn to appear before the House Judiciary Committee in response to its subpoena, so the administration can pursue an appeal of that decision.
The committee agreed to a seven-day stay to give the judge time to consider the matter, according to the department’s filing.
U.S. District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson on Monday rejected the department’s contention that the president and those close to him enjoyed absolute immunity from being questioned by lawmakers. The Justice Department is seeking review of her ruling by a U.S. appeals court in the capital.
“Mr. McGahn, a former counsel to the president, has urged that this political dispute between the legislative and executive Branches over Mr. McGahn’s potential congressional testimony does not belong in a judicial forum,” the Justice Department’s lawyers said in court papers.
The president himself said in a tweet Tuesday morning that he actually would like members of his administration to testify but that he was fighting the subpoena on principle and for the rights of future presidents.
In her 120-page opinion, Jackson -- a 2013 nominee of President Barack Obama -- chided President Donald Trump for his assertion that his highest officials were off limits, citing prior court rulings affirming Congressional subpoena power.
“The primary takeaway from the past 250 years of recorded American history is that presidents are not kings,” Jackson said. Still, she tempered her ruling by acknowledging the White House’s right to invoke executive privilege to avoid answering specific questions.
The committee has sought McGahn’s testimony since the close earlier this year of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election. The request gained urgency with the ongoing impeachment inquiry focused on whether the president withheld nearly $400 million in foreign aid to Ukraine while awaiting that nation’s willingness to investigate Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
McGahn resigned his White House post in October 2018.
The case is Committee on the Judiciary v. McGahn, 19-cv-2379, U.S. District Court, District of Columbia (Washington).
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Harris in federal court in Washington at aharris16@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Heather Smith at hsmith26@bloomberg.net, Anthony Lin, Steve Stroth
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