A federal judge on Monday ordered Don McGahn must testify to Congress about his time as the Trump WH's top lawyer, a ruling that will add pressure on other Trump officials tied to the impeachment probe. Decision here:
http://ow.ly/g7TL50xkrnj
I'm not sure if he is going to seek an appeal or not. If all he was wanting to do is cover his ass and not obstruct then I wouldn't see the need to pursue an appeal.
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In part of that decision, rational was given in the quote below:
“However busy or essential a presidential aide might be, and whatever their proximity to sensitive domestic and national-security projects, the President does not have the power to excuse him or her from taking an action that the law requires," Judge says
Other news of FOIA working to give public transparency on this issue:
Judge orders release of documents of communications between the Pentagon’s comptroller, DOD and White House OMB over the delay in stalled Ukraine aid. Must turn over 106 pages to Center for Public Integrity by Dec. 12. Another 100 by Dec. 20 in FOIA suit
https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2019cv3265-17 …
In addition to the above, on Friday:
https://www.americanoversight.org/state-department-releases-ukraine-documents-to-american-oversight
"On Friday evening, the State Department released nearly 100 pages of records in response to American Oversight’s lawsuit seeking a range of documents related to the Trump administration’s dealings with Ukraine.
Among other records, the production includes emails that confirm multiple contacts in March of 2019 between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, at least one of which was facilitated by President Trump’s assistant Madeleine Westerhout.
American Oversight is reviewing the production to assess whether the State Department has fully complied with the court’s order."
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TLDR: This is strong evidence that Trump's administration is abusing executive privilege and is blocking a formalized congressional impeachment inquiry. If normal citizens through FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) can have the courts force the Executive branch to produce documents then congress is certainly entitled to them via an impeachment inquiry.