‘Cooperative some of the time’: Inside Don McGahn’s secret testimony to Congress about Trump

Don McGahn described by top Democrat as ‘somewhat difficult’ during his testimony

Former White House counsel Don McGahn departs after appearing for questioning behind closed doors by the House Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, Friday, June 4, 2021 (AP)

Former White House counsel Don McGahn testified behind closed doors in Congress about how former president Donald Trump interfered in a probe into Russian meddling with the 2016 election.

Mr McGahn sat before the House Judiciary Committee for a transcribed interview, which will be released within a week, after Democrats fought for two years to secure his testimony.

Committee chairman, Representative Jerry Nadler of New York, refused to detail the testimony but described Mr McGahn as “somewhat difficult” and “cooperative some of the time” during the Friday session.

The testimony was limited to the 2019 findings of special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Moscow’s interference in the election that elected Mr Trump.

The top Republican on the committee, Jim Jordan, criticised the hearing as “re-litigating the Mueller report.”

Congressman Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation over whether he had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl, also downplayed Mr McGahn’s testimony.

“We’ve learned nothing new,” said Mr Gaetz.

“The expectation was that Don McGahn would be some sort of essential witness bringing new information worthy of years of litigation and countless taxpayer dollars spent on this endeavor.”

And he added that Mr McGahn was “unable to identify anything unlawful on the part of the president or any other member of the president’s administration.”

The committee first attempted to hear from Mr McGahn in 2019 after the publication of Mr Mueller’s report but found themselves blocked by the White House.

The Trump administration argued that Mr McGahn’s closeness to the president gave him “absolute immunity” from a congressional summons.

Mr McGahn told special counsel Robert Mueller that Mr Trump had potentially tried to block his probe into Russian interference.

He told Mr Mueller’s investigators that the then-president called him at home in june 2017 and told him that Mr Mueller should be removed, which Mr McGahn refused to do.

He said that he later met with Mr trump in the Oval Officer where he was again pressured to remove Mr Mueller.