In an unpleasant turn of events for Congressional Democrats, the White House announced on Monday that recently subpoenaed former White House Counsel Don McGahn will skip a House Judiciary Committee hearing scheduled for Tuesday, according to Fox News.
The White House cited a Justice Department opinion that states the former White House counsel cannot be compelled to testify about his official duties.
In a statement released Monday afternoon, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders took aim at Congressional Democrats for continuing what she called a “wasteful and unnecessary do-over” investigation into events surrounding the 2016 presidential campaign, hyst after the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe report.
“The House Judiciary Committee has issued a subpoena to try and force Mr. McGahn to testify again. The Department of Justice has provided a legal opinion stating that, based on long-standing, bipartisan, and Constitutional precedent, the former Counsel to the President cannot be forced to give such testimony, and Mr. McGahn has been directed to act accordingly,” Sanders said according to Fox News.
“This action has been taken in order to ensure that future Presidents can effectively execute the responsibilities of the Office of the Presidency.”
The DOJ memo on the issue said that the former White House official, like other senior advisors, has “immunity” and cannot be compelled to testify.
“This immunity applies to the former White House Counsel. Accordingly, Mr. McGahn is not legally required to appear and testify about matters related to his official duties as Counsel to the President,” the memo said.
This move was not altogether unexpected, as Sanders said earlier in the month that she did not “anticipate” that a hearing would take place. “We consider this to be a case closed and we’re moving forward to do the work of the American people,” Sanders said on ABC News’ “The Investigation” podcast.
