| | | | Why Don McGahn needs to testify |  | | On Monday afternoon, as expected, the White House blocked former White House counsel Don McGahn from testifying on Capitol Hill about his time working for President Donald Trump -- and what he told special counsel Robert Mueller about it.
That development was lumped in with a series of other moves by the White House to keep administration officials (past and current) from appearing in front of the Democratic-controlled House and, more broadly to resist any attempt by the House to investigate Trump and his associates.
And the McGahn move is that -- but it's also more. Here's why.
McGahn was at the center of some of the most controversial and consequential moments of Trump's first two years as President -- most notably the alleged order Trump gave to McGahn to get rid of Mueller as special counsel in June 2017. McGahn told the special counsel that he had refused that order. He also told Mueller that Trump had later asked him to deny a New York Times report regarding the ordered firing, and that when McGahn refused to comply, the President interrogated him about his taking notes in their meetings.
Now, the really important part: Trump had repeatedly denied ANY of this happened.
"I was NOT going to fire Bob Mueller, and did not fire Bob Mueller," Trump tweeted earlier this month. "In fact, he was allowed to finish his Report with unprecedented help from the Trump Administration. Actually, lawyer Don McGahn had a much better chance of being fired than Mueller. Never a big fan!"
Last month, Trump tweeted much the same: "As has been incorrectly reported by the Fake News Media, I never told then White House Counsel Don McGahn to fire Robert Mueller, even though I had the legal right to do so. If I wanted to fire Mueller, I didn't need McGahn to do it, I could have done it myself."
Someone is lying here. About a hugely significant moment. Now, that fundamental disagreement won't be resolved by McGahn testifying on Capitol Hill. Trump will continue to tweet whatever he wants to tweet. And last time I checked, there's no penalty for not telling the truth on Twitter.
But for something so critical as whether or not a) the President ordered his top lawyer to fire the special counsel looking into Russian interference in the 2016 election and b) if the President later asked McGahn to lie about the whole thing, it's quite clearly in the public interest for McGahn to testify.
The Point: The odds are still very much against McGahn testifying -- especially with the White House claiming immunity and insisting that he is under no obligation to heed a subpoena from the House Judiciary Committee (or anyone else). But whether or not McGahn will testify, it's inarguable that he should.
-- Chris | | "I'm not a vegan. I'm a gluten-free."
-- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a noted fan of gluten-free foods. | | | This large of a field of Democrats running for president requires a whole lot of CNN town halls, and we've now got four more coming down the pike.
Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet will be first up on Thursday, May 30.
Then, there will be a back-to-back-to-back event on Sunday, June 2, featuring three members of Congress: Massachusetts Rep. Seth Moulton, Ohio Rep. Tim Ryan, and California Rep. Eric Swalwell. Their hour-long town halls will take place at 6, 7 and 8 p.m. ET, respectively.
And don't forget: Tuesday night's town hall with Beto O'Rourke! | | Donald Trump promised a blue-collar job boom in Ohio. It hasn't materialized. His voters don't care.
Peter Baker explains what we can and should learn from Trump's penchant for swearing.
Joe Biden's case for a return to normalcy, via Ezra Klein
A fascinating deep dive into the upheaval in the world of New York City taxicabs
Who, exactly, were those people who picked the new king of Westeros?
Just some sweet Gendry memes | | | Three NEW remixes of "Sure Shot" by the Beastie Boys? One of which features the Large Professor? Yes, please. | |  | | Today's topic: Rep. Justin Amash tries a tweetstorm on for size. | | WARREN'S EVEN GOT A PLAN FOR ~THAT~ | | Sen. Elizabeth Warren has emerged as a candidate with a plan for basically anything (and even sells campaign merchandise saying so) -- and nothing appears to be off the table.
"Do you think Elizabeth Warren has a plan to fix my love life?" comedian Ashley Nicole Black tweeted this weekend.
Warren (or an eagle-eyed staffer) spotted the tweet, to which the senator herself responded: "DM me and let's figure this out."
"I knew I could count on you," Black replied. | |
LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST | | Kamala Harris: Has released a proposal that would fine companies that don't achieve pay equity.
John Hickenlooper: Rolled out what his campaign calls a "full security" foreign policy doctrine.
Tulsi Gabbard: Used Donald Trump's "fake news" defense when asked about reports of Russian-backed support of her campaign.
Bernie Sanders: Has unveiled a comprehensive education plan that calls for the end of for-profit charter schools, creates a salary floor for public school teachers, guarantees free school meals for all students and expands after-school and summer school programs. | | | | | | |
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