House Democrats are headed to court to enforce Don McGahn's subpoena
House Democrats aren't done with Don McGahn yet.
After the former White House counsel provided the most lurid details in Special Counsel Robert Mueller's report, the Democrat-led House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed him to hear more. But McGahn followed President Trump's orders to stay mum, and now, after a few months of silence, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has announced her caucus is going to court to make him comply.
House Judiciary Chair Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) will file a lawsuit in Wednesday to enforce a subpoena requiring that McGahn testify for the committee, Pelosi announced the same day. The suit will likely say McGahn's testimony is needed so lawmakers can decide whether to move forward in impeaching Trump, Reuters reports. If successful, the suit could stop Trump's practice of blocking his current and former aides from testifying before Congress, Politico notes.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
In a statement, McGahn's lawyer said McGahn "does not believe he witnessed any violation of law" while working under Trump, and when Congress and Trump gave him two different directives regarding testimony, "he will follow his former client's instruction." Speaking to reporters on Monday, Nadler said he expected to get court recommendations on whether to bring articles of impeachment against Trump "by the end of October, maybe shortly thereafter," per NBC News.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Nigel Farage: was he a teenage racist?Talking Point Farage’s denials have been ‘slippery’, but should claims from Reform leader’s schooldays be on the news agenda?
-
Pushing for peace: is Trump appeasing Moscow?In Depth European leaders succeeded in bringing themselves in from the cold and softening Moscow’s terms, but Kyiv still faces an unenviable choice
-
Sudoku medium: November 29, 2025The daily medium sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Judge halts Trump’s DC Guard deploymentSpeed Read The Trump administration has ‘infringed upon the District’s right to govern itself,’ the judge ruled
-
Trump accuses Democrats of sedition meriting ‘death’Speed Read The president called for Democratic lawmakers to be arrested for urging the military to refuse illegal orders
-
Court strikes down Texas GOP gerrymanderSpeed Read The Texas congressional map ordered by Trump is likely an illegal racial gerrymander, the court ruled
-
Trump defends Saudi prince, shrugs off Khashoggi murderSpeed Read The president rebuked an ABC News reporter for asking Mohammed bin Salman about the death of a Washington Post journalist at the Saudi Consulate in 2018
-
Congress passes bill to force release of Epstein filesSpeed Read The Justice Department will release all files from its Jeffrey Epstein sex-trafficking investigation
-
Trump says he will sell F-35 jets to Saudi ArabiaSpeed Read The president plans to make several deals with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman this week
-
Judge blasts ‘profound’ errors in Comey caseSpeed Read ‘Government misconduct’ may necessitate dismissing the charges against the former FBI director altogether
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
