Schedule for McGahn legal fight adds to pressure on impeachment backers
House Democrats' legal fight to force public testimony from a witness to possible obstruction of justice by President Donald Trump will last until at least Oct. 31, according to a schedule issued by a federal judge Tuesday.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's timetable will put a significant squeeze on lawmakers considering articles of impeachment against Trump; the House's 2019 schedule includes just 16 days in session after Halloween. Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler has indicated he believes his committee could decide whether to recommend articles of impeachment against Trump before the House departs for the year on Dec. 12.
The House is suing to force former White House counsel Don McGahn to publicly testify about Trump's efforts to curtail and even fire then-special counsel Robert Mueller, who was investigating links between Trump's 2016 campaign and the Russian government. McGahn provided crucial testimony to Mueller, describing chaos in the West Wing after Mueller's appointment and multiple orders by Trump to constrain or remove the special counsel, all of which were refused by staff.
Trump, though, has intervened, ordering McGahn to refuse to cooperate with the House request. McGahn has complied with Trump's directive and has refused to cooperate. Trump claims his top aides have "absolute immunity" from testifying to protect the confidentiality interests of the presidency. House lawyers have said this argument is meritless and is part of a broad effort by Trump to stonewall the House's investigation, which could lead to articles of impeachment.
Jackson, an appointee of President Barack Obama, set a schedule for action in the House's lawsuit that begins Oct. 1, when the Justice Department and McGahn are due to respond to the House's initial filing. The House would then have two weeks to reply to their arguments, and the Justice Department would have until Oct. 25 to respond again. A hearing before Jackson would take place Oct. 31 at 2 p.m. at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. It's unclear how quickly she might issue her ruling after the hearing.
The timeline takes into account the House's request for rapid consideration of its lawsuit — a push described in urgent terms by the House's top lawyer, Douglas Letter, who has warned delays would jeopardize the House's ability to break Trump's stonewalling effort. But on the political calendar, the two-month wait significantly escalates time pressure on proponents of launching an impeachment inquiry. It also doesn't factor in potential appeals or other delays.
Nadler, who argues that his committee has launched impeachment proceedings against Trump despite the lack of a formal vote, has argued recently that court rulings could be resolved in time for his committee to determine whether to recommend articles of impeachment before the end of the year. He previously predicted that rulings could come as late as early November, leaving time for the committee to consider articles of impeachment before 2020.
"If we decide to report articles of impeachment, we could get it in the late fall, later part of the year," Nadler said in an interview on MSNBC last month.
