Revelation could bolster obstruction of justice case v. Trump

Developments on Day 335 of the Trump Administration:

White House Lawyer McGahn Researched Flynn’s Violations in January

In the first days of the Trump Presidency, White House lawyer Don McGahn researched federal law over both lying to federal investigators and violating the Logan Act, a centuries-old prohibition on private citizens from negotiating with foreign governments, according to “three people with direct knowledge of the confidential government documents”.

The records reflect McGahn’s concerns that National Security Advisor Michael Flynn violated one or both laws in December 2016 in his conversations with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak. The revelation of the documents, now with Special Counsel Robert Muller’s Trump-Russia investigation, could support an obstruction of justice case against Donald Trump.

McGahn carried out the research after Acting Attorney Sally Yates warned the White House on January 26 and 27 that Flynn had lied to the FBI. Despite the warning, Trump allowed Flynn to continue in his job for another 18 days, only dismissing him on February 13, after The Washington Post reported that Flynn had lied to Vice President Mike Pence and other senior administration officials about his contacts with Kislyak.

A White House official tried to distance Trump from any knowledge of McGahn’s research. He said the attorney drafted “a memo that reflected a timeline of events leading up to Flynn’s resignation…but that was after the resignation so it would be inaccurate to say McGahn briefed the President around the same time of the creation of that document (if that is the document you are referring to)”.

Flynn pleaded guilty on December 1 to lying to investigators and faces a sentence of up to five years. He is believed to be cooperating with Mueller’s team.

Court documents indicate that Flynn spoke to Kislyak both on December 22 and on December 29 after receiving guidance from Trump transition officials, including Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. The December 22 conversation sought Russian support to block a UN Security Council resolution concerning Israel and Palestine. A week later, Flynn spoke five times with Kislyak about new sanctions imposed by Barack Obama over Russia’s influence operations in the 2016 US election.

On January 27, after McGahn met Yates — who warned that Flynn could be vulnerable to Russian blackmail — Trump hosted FBI Director James Comey at a White House dinner and demanded that Comey pledge his personal loyalty. Just after Flynn was fired, Trump pressed the FBI director to shut down any investigation.

Comey refused to do so, and Trump fired him in May.

Pence’s Paean to Trump’s Greatness

At a Cabinet meeting, amid Congress’s passage of a $1.5 trillion tax change bill, Vice President Mike Pence gives a fulsome two-minute tribute to Donald Trump, as Defense Secretary James Mattis — sitting to Trump’s left — shifts uneasily in his chair:

Trump has previously called on his Cabinet members to offer praise to him, going around the table for each statement.