McGahn on Trump’s pressure: I felt ‘agitated, trapped’

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After Trump pushed him to oust Mueller a second time in a phone call, McGahn said he was not feeling well.

When I got off the phone with the President, how did I feel? Oof. Frustrated, confused, trapped, he told a panel of congressional investigators. Lots of emotions.

I felt trapped because the President had the same conversation with me over and over again, and I thought I had conveyed my views and offered my advice, and we were still having the same conversation, he added. And I thought, at some point, he would want to talk again. And, at that point, I wasn’t exactly sure how to navigate that one, so I felt like I was trapped.

Rep. Jerry Nadler, the chairman of the committee that has pushed for McGahn’s testimony for years, released a statement describing the testimony as a revelator.

All told, Mr. McGahns’s testimony gives us a fresh look at how dangerously close President Trump is bringing us, in Mr. McGahns’s words, the point of no return, New York said Democrat.

The hearing was occasionally tested as Democrats pressed McGahn on events from four years ago. McGahn appeared to sidestep some questions such as his reaction to actions taken by the former president or on several occasions said he did not understand the question. For example, McGahn said he has no crisp memories of certain conversations with Trump and others and postponed his previous testimony.

I hope you’re not suggesting that I’m not answering honestly, McGahn told committee staff as he forced his memories into his former testimony.

However, the former White House counsel has elaborated on several damning accounts of Trump’s actions during the early part of his presidency, including the moment Trump learned that a special adviser had been assigned to investigate his campaigns. associated with Russia.

Trump’s reaction then, according to McGahn, was to lean back in his chair and say: It’s horrible. This is the end of my Presidency. Fucked me ”an exchange that was also included in Muellers’ initial report.

McGahn also confirmed that Trump later complained to him about potential conflicts that Mueller would have as special counsel potentially involving golf membership dues and he urged McGahn to look into the matter himself.

McGahn confirmed that he told Trump he would not take further steps by calling on Rosenstein and that Trump should not do so to avoid poor optics: That doesn’t mean the President is interfering, but it’s certainly easy to do. to look like that.

McGahn said he also found this in relation to Trump’s earlier suggestion that Attorney General Jeff Session should resign because he had slipped from overseeing the investigation.

Since the Attorney General is Cabinet-level, the Senate chief of U.S. law enforcement confirmed It’s not a pointless moment, McGahn said when asked about his concern. It’s not the kind of thing that happens every day … They don’t teach you in this law school. “

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