Why it’s such a big deal that the courts just ruled against Donald Trump and Don McGahn

| 2:00 pm EDT August 7, 2020
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In a reminder of just how slowly our legal system moves, the courts ruled today that former White House Counsel Don McGahn must honor a long-ago-issued subpoena to testify to the House about Donald Trump’s obstruction of justice crimes. Of course McGahn and Trump can (and surely will) still appeal to the Supreme Court, and by the time that ruling comes down, the election will likely have come and gone. But this is still a crucial ruling, for one reason.

This court ruling firmly establishes that Donald Trump’s current and former White House advisers must testify about his crimes. Further, this ruling cites and builds on the recent Supreme Court ruling which said that Trump’s accounting firm must turn over his tax returns. The courts are systematically dismantling Trump’s assertion that being President gives him some kind of criminal immunity.

So let’s say Donald Trump loses the election and gets hit with the criminal charges in New York that we know for certain are coming, and the federal charges that we suspect are coming. When he’s put on trial, all of his own people like Don McGahn and other White House advisers will be legally compelled to testify against him. This helps further ensure that Trump is going to prison if he loses the election.