Don McGahn skips House hearing on the Mueller report

The House Judiciary Committee just adjourned today’s hearing. Former White House counsel Don McGahn was scheduled to testify during it, but he skipped.

The hearing finished after 21 members voted to adjourn. Another 13 voted no.

Former White House counsel Don McGahn was scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee about the Mueller report — but he defied the committee’s subpoena and skipped the hearing. However, the committee left out a chair for him today.

Rep. Doug Collins, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, called today’s hearing “theater” and blamed Democrats for “desperately to make something out of nothing.”

Collins said Chairman Jerry Nadler isn’t looking for an investigation, but instead is orchestrating a political stunt.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler said he and the rest of the committee will hear former White House counsel Don McGahn’s testimony, one way or another.

“Let me be clear: This Committee will hear Mr. McGahn’s testimony, even if we have to go to court to secure it,” he said. “We will not allow the President to prevent the American people from hearing from this witness.”

He continued: “We will not allow the President to block congressional subpoenas, putting himself and his allies above the law. We will not allow the President to stop this investigation, and nothing in these unjustified and unjustifiable legal attacks will stop us from pressing forward with our work on behalf of the American people.”

In his opening statement, Nadler says he believes the episodes in the Mueller report would have led to Trump being charged with obstruction had he not been president, and that his obstruction has continued since the end of the Mueller probe.

“And I believe that the President’s conduct since the report was released, with respect to Mr. McGahn’s testimony and other information we have sought, has carried this pattern of obstruction well beyond the four corners of the Mueller report,” he added.

House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler just gaveled in for today’s session. Former White House counsel Don McGahn was supposed to testify, but he announced he’d skip it after the White House argued that, as a former senior adviser to the President, he is exempt from having to appear before Congress.

In his opening remarks, Nadler argued that the committee’s “subpoenas are not optional.”

Nadler added: “Mr. McGahn did not appear today because the President prevented it.”

The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold its scheduled oversight hearing on the Robert Mueller report at 10 a.m. Former White House counsel Don McGahn was supposed to be at the hearing — but he decided to skip.

Earlier Monday afternoon, the White House argued that, as a former senior adviser to the President, he is exempt from having to appear before Congress.

This is the second time this month the committee has carried on with a no show witness. Earlier this month, Attorney General William Barr did not testify following a dispute about the hearing format.

Former White House counsel Don McGahn’s scheduled testimony today was the subject of much debate. It was always unclear if he would even testify.

Here’s what both sides argued:

Former White House counsel Don McGahn will not appear Tuesday before the House Judiciary Committee, his lawyers said in a letter Monday, defying the committee’s subpoena.

Why this matters: It’s a move that appears to set the stage for another contempt vote to retaliate against the Trump administration for rejecting the demands of Congress, as committee Chairman Jerry Nadler threatened late Monday to do whatever was necessary to make McGahn appear before his panel, which convenes Tuesday at 10 a.m. ET.

Hours later, in a letter sent Monday night, Nadler warned McGahn that the committee would use “all enforcement mechanisms at its disposal” to compel his testimony.