Democrats subpoena ex-White House counsel Don McGahn in wake of Mueller report findings

The chairman of the House judiciary committee has subpoenaed former White House counsel Don McGahn to force him to publicly testify next month, in the latest fallout following the release of the Mueller report.

Representative Jerry Nadler, described Mr McGahn as “a critical witness to many of the alleged instances of obstruction of justice and other misconduct described in the special counsel’s report”.

Several other top allies to Donald Trump are expected to be subpoenaed to testify before Congress in addition to Mr McGahn, who stepped down from his post in October.

“The special counsel’s report, even in redacted form, outlines substantial evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction and other abuses,” Mr Nadler said.

He continued: “It now falls to Congress to determine for itself the full scope of the misconduct and to decide what steps to take in the exercise of our duties of oversight, legislation and constitutional accountability.”

Mr Nadler’s subpoena requests that Mr McGahn appear before the committee on 21 May, with a deadline of 7 May to provide documents to the judiciary committee related to Mr Mueller’s investigation.

The subpoena comes as Democrats have wrestled with the fallout of the Mueller report, and whether they should pursue impeachment against the president in light of the multiple concerning details in the report.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is among those in the Democratic caucus who have urged patience in the process, and on Monday wrote to fellow Democrats, suggesting they allow investigations in Congress to establish a factual basis for impeachment before they begin talking on the subject.

Mr McGahn’s “testimony will help shed further light on the President’s attacks on the rule of law, and his attempts to cover up those actions by lying to the American people and requesting others do the same”, Mr Nadler said.