Former White House counsel Donald McGahn, leaves the Eisenhower Executive Office building next to the White House on Aug. 30, 2018. By Daniel Hemel Daniel Hemel is an assistant professor of law at the University of Chicago. April 19 at 2:25 PM President Trump ordered the top White House lawyer to lie to special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. That is one difficult-to-escape conclusion of Mueller’s 448-page report, released to the public in redacted form Thursday.
Trump’s order to McGahn to carry out a coverup is the biggest bombshell in a report full of damning disclosures. Mueller’s analysis of that episode is the closest that the special counsel comes to concluding that the president committed obstruction of justice. It’s certainly one of the lowest points of a presidency that has stooped to many lows. And it should be the focal point of media coverage and congressional investigations in the coming days, weeks and months.
McGahn rebuffed the president every time, but that does not exonerate Trump. An unsuccessful attempt to obstruct justice is obstruction, nonetheless. Nor can Trump plausibly argue that his order to McGahn was facetious. Trump did not tell McGahn to lie just one time. Instead, he issued this instruction on four separate occasions — three times through others, once directly.
In other instances of potential obstruction outlined in the special counsel’s report, the facts remain murky or the president could conceivably claim that his motives were not corrupt. For example, it’s unclear whether the president tacitly told his longtime attorney and fixer Michael Cohen to lie to Congress. Likewise, it’s at least arguable that Trump fired James B.
familygrowing1 And then hired lawyers AND bought an Attorney General to whitewash his crimes . What is going on ?
MadVet2000 Nsjd skis sjxj zmjz
To be apart of the Trump WH you must lie
MJMcKean Did anyone have any doubt about this?
MJMcKean We get it! You're mad Clinton didn't win. Yada, yada.....
Still spinning fake news, Wapo? Zero credibility
It changes nothing for the base or GOP - they all know they would have done the same thing
GreatDismal I eagerly await Don Magahn's congressional testimony.
Want another bombshell? Mueller interfered with an election by sitting on the collusion report for months even though he knew there was no collusion.
Mueller's biggest bombshell? Trump is exonerated.
Wha a pile of crap the Poo is.
WaPoStaff Great work Unfortunately, 'mericans gave their country away and they ain't gonna get it back in any recognizable form Most have no idea about the wickedness their way comes Even those who do don't seem to care & won't do anything other than be appalled
Telling a lawyer to lie is like telling a dog to speak, he'll bark when he's ready.
FALSE, but no surprise coming from FAKE NEWS leader, WaPo.
Bombshell? Everybody knew this
But he didn’t so no body no crime NEXT!!!!!!!
MJMcKean Is this a face of a liar?
Incredibly evil!
And yet WH counsel Don McGhan DIDN'T lie. And Trump DIDN'T fire him. 🤔 Meaning, Mueller & 18 angry Democrats along with their pals at CNN MSNBC attempted to make more of this brief episode, than there (actually) was.
Impeach.
Probably not the biggest bombshell. Don't see McGahn as a hero. He told Mueller the truth to cover himself. He is as disgusting as the the rest of the WH. He pushed unqualified criminal judges like Kavanaugh. He is smarter than the rest of the WH, covered himself and got out
God you guys are gonna be pissed in 2020
CheriJacobus The biggest bombshell is that in the face of indisputable evidence, there remains any effort to justify, explain or coceal the actions of this white house. Congress needs to act now, they have a civic duty to restore confidence in our government. impeachnow
soledadobrien Or how about sharing trump campaign polling data on MI WI PA withRUSSIANS! Don’t ignore the coordination just because it couldn’t be charged. Likely impacted outcome in electoral college.
soledadobrien But of course he did. Dan McGhahn wanted Brett Kavanaugh nominated for Supreme Court Justice, so he had to pay for that gesture by lying for Trump.
And we have those fake Christians (evangelical hypocrites) wrapping their arms around Trump, embracing a LIAR, a sinner, and a traitor. Those so-called Christians are truly the anti-Christ as they've done more damage to Christianity than Trump has done to his own reputation.
Bombshell you say? Will this be 'the beginning of the end of his presidency' biasedmedia
I heard they were going to start selling your paper in one of those standup racks in the grocery store check out.
This may be a 'new' revelation to some people. But many of us already know that this is realDonaldTrump: a LIAR, a FRAUD, and a slime ball who gets his way by lying, including cheating on his wife with a porn star, then instructed his lawyer (MichaelCohen) to lie about it all!
CheriJacobus Biggest bombshell is the one cover-up artist Barr redacted. We haven't seen it yet.
CheriJacobus That is unusual? That is homeostasis. He is incapable of telling the truth. He has baked-in bloviation.
1. 'The President later personally met with McGahn in the Oval Office with only the Chief of Staff present and tried to get McGahn to say that the President never ordered him to fire the Special Counsel. McGahn refused and insisted his memory of the President 's direction
Calling Lindsey Graham! Someone him since some staffer blocked me
CheriJacobus Does this surprise anyone?
The stench coming from the White House is overwhelming.
😂
This is what happens when you have a Civilization run by Lawyers. They can't even conclude the obvious. Of COURSE, it's...............
Geez, what’s w/ the over-usage of the word “bombshell”? If you have to use that word, not only are you a clickbait peddler, but you’re making a mountain out of an ant pile. Fake news innuendo
Not uncommon for him to get his counsel to lie. POTUS
Biggest issue for you snowflakes is that Trump will get re-elected
Just why is everyone sooooo shocked & surprised that Trump, a man who has lied ~10,000 times, would tell someone to lie for him? Attorney? Doesn't matter to Trump - only 1 matters. He will do ANYTHING, and I truly believe ANYTHING, to CYA.
You wouldn't know what obstruction was if someone deleted 33,000 emails and destroyed cell phones while under FBI investigation.
Let’s talk about WaPo’s responsibility in pushing conspiracies about Trump/Russia collusion. The thousands of lies you’ve told over the last 2 1/2 years, let’s talk about that!
He's probably the biggest liar in history. Sad. Not fair! liarinchief
How much evidence do you need does it have to be emblazoned across your forehead or something....do we need to draw some pictures for you? what exactly IS the PROBLEM
It is obvious William Barr lied. He should be removed from office.
But yet some people still believe in Trump.People need to wake up and vote Trump out in 2020.
realDonaldTrump - Amusing. I hope the socialists use this to go for impeaching you. Lying to the entire nation. Shame. But again, nothing about collusion. Go figure.
You won't divide America spreading your divisive lies for profit
Bigger: Obama allowed the Russians to interfere with election and didn’t lift a finger to stop it
Impeach! Stay the course. Schiff, Cummings and numerous 2020 Democratic candidates are on record that Trump's treasonous behavior can not go unpunished. They promised America, the DNC would save our democracy.
It’s harder to lie when the media isn’t covering for you.
Is this related to the debunked buzzfeed article? Stuck on the wrong side of the paywall
[propaganda hearsay....Muller indited all he could bout lyng he thought he might convict
You lost. Accept it, leftists
No it isn't.
Hahaha! Oh boy!! 😂😂. NO COLLUSION LIBBY!
And did they? No. MoveOn dot org.
Lie is the blow job of realDonaldTrump
FakeNews
Before the MuellerReport was released, Trump said the report 'totally vindicated' him. Once it was released, it is 'total BS.' Trump wants to cherry pick only the findings of the Mueller report that he likes. Sorry it doesn't work that way.
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