A prominent White House official, and one of the people who played a key role in the president’s most important accomplishments, Don McGahn resigned Wednesday after 21 months in the administration, the White House confirmed later in the day.
McGahn, who served as White House counsel to President Donald Trump, was instrumental in implementing a number of the administration’s conservative policies, Fox News writes. However, his being a chief witness in the special counsel’s probe into possible obstruction of justice put him in a precarious position.
The news outlet, citing a report by the New York Times, writes that McGahn was also responsible for dissuading President Trump from making some rash and possibly politically dangerous decisions, such as firing special counsel Robert Mueller and forcing Attorney General Jeff Session to retake control of the investigation into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign.
He also led White House efforts to pack the federal courts with conservative judges, including both of the president’s Supreme Court nominees, Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh, and was a key player in the administration’s rollback of government regulations.
The counsel had first expressed his desire to leave the administration this summer, and the President later confirmed McGahn was indeed leaving after Judge Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed to the Supreme Court. Trump said Wednesday that Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone, whom he called “a very fine man, highly respected by a lot of people,” would take the place of McGahn as his new counsel.
Trump also considered giving the job to Emmet T. Flood, the White House lawyer for the special counsel investigation, but he eventually turned down the job.
Fox News adds that the new White House counsel would bear the brunt of congressional subpoenas and investigations if Democrats retake the House in the November midterm elections.
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