The real reason Don McGahn is now making public remarks about his testimony against Donald Trump

| 10:00 pm EDT August 20, 2018
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It’s been two days since the New York Times confirmed a ten month old Palmer Report story about White House Counsel Don McGahn having sold Donald Trump out to Robert Mueller. In that time, Trump has publicly insisted that McGahn didn’t actually sell him out. Now McGahn is making public remarks about his testimony, through his own attorney. The remarks are precisely what we would have expected, and are not at all to be believed.

Don McGahn’s attorney has said this to the Washington Post about McGahn’s testimony against Trump: “He did not incriminate him.” Here’s the thing. Of course McGahn is making this claim. He’s trying to keep his job, which requires convincing Trump that he didn’t incriminate him. This is the exact quote we would have gotten from McGahn’s camp no matter what his testimony was – meaning that this quote isn’t worth printing, unless you include the disclaimer that it’s nothing more than public posturing. However, McGahn has given something away here.

It’s a big deal that Don McGahn is still trying to keep his White House Counsel job. Most people would have just packed up their desk and left after a revelation like this. Instead, McGahn is actively trying to convince Donald Trump that he somehow didn’t sell him out, despite thirty hours of testimony, and the surrender of numerous incriminating documents – including the letter that Trump and Stephen Miller initially planned to use as the official basis for firing James Comey.

This explains why Donald Trump has spent the weekend publicly insisting that Don McGahn didn’t sell him out: McGahn has clearly been in his ear all weekend, insisting that he didn’t sell him out. Everyone but Trump knows otherwise. But why is McGahn still trying to keep his job? McGahn may not be a traitor, but he’s a far-right whackjob who’s desperate to help get Brett Kavanaugh confirmed to the Supreme Court. After that nomination succeeds or fails, all bets are off.