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House Democrats Ask Federal Judge to Force Don McGahn to Testify

The lawsuit escalates a months-long battle between House Democrats and the president.

The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday asked a federal judge to compel former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify about any evidence of obstruction of justice by President Trump. The committee wants to hear what McGahn witnessed of Trump’s alleged obstruction of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. “Given McGahn’s central role as a witness to the president’s wide-ranging potentially obstructive conduct, the Judiciary Committee cannot fulfill its constitutional investigative, oversight and legislative responsibilities—including its consideration of whether to recommend articles of impeachment—without hearing from him,” reads the complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

McGahn has skipped multiple scheduled appearances to testify before the committee, and defied a subpoena instructing him to testify. McGahn reportedly defied the order at the direction of the president. “(Trump) claims McGahn is ‘absolutely immune’ from testifying, a claim with no basis in law,” reads the complaint.