Here’s how much trouble Donald Trump’s White House Counsel Don McGahn is now in
By now we all know the story of Donald Trump’s longtime personal attorney Michael Cohen, who has been revealed to have been so knee-deep in the Trump-Russia scandal that he’s had to hire an attorney of his own. It turns out Cohen is no longer alone in that regard, as yet another Donald Trump attorney has had to hire an attorney of his own.
This time around it’s Don McGahn, who in his role as White House Counsel doesn’t technically represent Donald Trump. Instead his official job is to provide legal advice to the office of the president. In the case of the Trump administration, that may be a distinction without a difference, as McGahn appears to have largely functioned as a de facto personal attorney for Trump. Now McGahn is hiring an attorney of his own to represent him in the Russia scandal, according to a report from The Hill (link). There are two reasons why this is a big deal, and potentially bad news for Donald Trump.
The first is that Don McGahn appears to have been deeply and consistently involved in Donald Trump’s efforts to cover up his Russia scandal and obstruct the investigation into that scandal. It was McGahn who advised Trump to scuttle his initial James Comey firing letter, because it was an admission of obstruction of justice. It also appears McGahn was involved in the attempted coverup of Donald Trump Jr’s collusion meeting with Russia. Because McGahn has the strongest knowledge of the law of anyone in Trump’s inner circle, he may be the one who gave Trump the most expert advice on trying to work around the law.
The second sign of trouble for Donald Trump is that, although he’s been relying on Don McGahn as a de facto personal attorney, they share no attorney-client privilege because McGahn doesn’t technically represent Trump. Anyone who has so much as watched The West Wing knows this – but you have to wonder if Trump grasps the concept. In other words, McGahn legally has to tell Special Counsel Robert Mueller about any attempt at illegal activities on Trump’s part.
