White House top lawyer cooperated with special counsel: Report
Report says McGahn shared information that Mueller's team wouldn't have known
WASHINGTON The White House's top lawyer has cooperated extensively with the special counsel investigating Russian interference in the 2016 US election, sharing detailed accounts about the episodes at the heart of the inquiry into whether President Donald Trump obstructed justice, The New York Times reported on Saturday.
Citing a dozen current and former White House officials and others briefed on the matter, the newspaper said White House counsel Donald McGahn had shared information, some of which the investigators would not have known about.
On Saturday evening, Mr McGahn's lawyer confirmed the White House counsel had cooperated with Special Counsel Robert Mueller's team.
"Mr McGahn answered the special counsel team's questions fulsomely and honestly," Mr William Burck said, explaining Mr Trump did not ask Mr McGahn to refrain from discussing any matters.
Also on Saturday, Mr Trump tweeted he had encouraged Mr McGahn and White House staff to cooperate with investigators.
According to The New York Times, Mr McGahn - in at least three voluntary interviews with investigators that totalled 30 hours over the past nine months - described Mr Trump's furore toward the Russia investigation and the ways in which the president urged Mr McGahn to respond to it.
The newspaper reported Mr McGahn's motivation to speak with the special counsel as an unusual move that was in response to a decision by Mr Trump's first team of lawyers to cooperate fully.
But it said another motivation was Mr McGahn's fear he could be placed in legal jeopardy because of decisions made in the White House that could be construed as obstruction of justice.
[Mr (Donald) McGahn answered the special counsel team’s questions fulsomely and honestly.Mr Donald McGahn’s lawyer, Mr William Burck
Mr McGahn, the newspaper said, shared information on Mr Trump's comments and actions during the firing of then Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey and Mr Trump's obsession with putting a loyalist in charge of the inquiry, including his repeated urging of Attorney-General Jeff Sessions to claim oversight of it.
The newspaper said Mr McGahn was also centrally involved in Mr Trump's attempts to fire Mr Mueller, which investigators might not have discovered without him.
Mr McGahn told investigators he never saw Mr Trump go beyond his legal authority.
A source close to the president told Reuters the extent of Mr McGahn's cooperation was "a tactical or strategic mistake" instigated by Mr Trump's first legal team and it should not have been allowed to happen because Mr McGahn should have been covered by executive privilege.
The person said Mr Trump is not worried because he does not feel he did anything wrong.
One lawyer familiar with the matter said Mr McGahn could have been subpoenaed to testify to the grand jury if he did not cooperate with Mr Mueller voluntarily and might have lost legal battles if he tried to invoke executive privilege.
Mr Rudy Giuliani, one of Mr Trump's lawyers, said the President's legal team had been in contact with Mr McGahn's counsel after he was interviewed and possessed "e-mails that say he provided nothing that was damaging or incriminating to the president". - REUTERS
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