Testimony of Trump’s White House counsel, Don McGahn, released by House Democrats

The testimony given by Donald Trump’s White House counsel, Don McGahn, has been released by House Democrats.

Mr McGahn was questioned by members of the House Judiciary Committee last week, following a two-year court battle to secure his testimony.

Democrats had wanted to get on record Mr McGahn’s recollection about the former president’s attempts to fire then-special counsel Robert Mueller as he probed Russian interference into the 2016 election.

Mr McGahn was subpoenaed during the Trump administration but was blocked from appearing by the White House.

Administration lawyers had claimed he was immune from congressional testimony because of his position in the White House, but an agreement was finally reached with Joe Biden’s Justice Department earlier this year.

He was finally questioned on 4 June by both Democrats and Republicans but only on topics covered by the Mueller investigation, and the 241-page transcript was made public on Wednesday.

The Mueller report found that Mr McGahn refused Mr Trump’s demand that he fire the special counsel, “deciding that he would resign rather than trigger what he regarded as a potential Saturday Night Massacre.”

Mr Trump also told McGahn to deny that he had tried to fire Mueller, but also refused to compl with that request, the report stated.

“Mr McGahn provided the Committee with substantial new information, including firsthand accounts of President Trump’s increasingly out of control behavior, and insight into concerns that the former President’s conduct could expose both Trump and McGahn to criminal liability,” said committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, a Democrat from New York, in a statement.