White House Counsel Donald McGahn is in the spotlight for threatening to resign if President Donald Trump fired former FBI Director Robert Mueller from serving as special counsel for the Russian interference investigation, but according to sources, McGahn has wanted to step away often over the past six months.
The New York Times' Charlie Savage reported Saturday that several people have said that McGahn has been telling his friends and colleagues that he has considered resigning his post in the past six months.
However, the sources said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged the attorney to stay. McConnell would not comment on his conversations with McGahn, but did say through a spokesman that by choosing the attorney, "President Trump picked the finest White House counsel I've ever worked with."
McGahn, though, has also said he did not know when he might be asked to leave a job, reports Savage.
The White House counsel has not decorated his corner office on the second floor of the West Wing or stocked its shelving with personal items, telling colleagues he always travels light, as he does not know when he "might be asked to leave."
McGahn also rarely travels with Trump or appears in public, with the exception of a speech he delivered at the Federalist Society in November.
"'I am sure he's thought about quitting — I doubt there is a person in any West Wing that hasn't thought about it — but this is very important to him," former White House Communications Michael Dubke, who himself resigned last June, told The Times. "He views this as this is going to be his ultimate imprint on American government.'"
McGahn, as White House counsel, has remained at the center of the unfolding Russian investigation since taking the post. He was the first to hear concerns that former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail, and also, on Trump's orders, tried to keep Attorney General Jeff Sessions from recusing himself from the investigation.
He also was part of Trump's dismissal of FBI Director James Comey, and has already been interviewed by Mueller's team, which has obtained several memos and communications showing how the attorney was working to meet Trump's demands, including his objections to a first draft of Trump's letter to dismiss Comey, as it mentioned the Russian investigation, reports The Times.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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