Winning

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Appeals court says Don McGahn doesn't have to testify in major win for White House

By Katelyn Polantz, CNN

 

Updated 5:19 PM ET, Fri February 28, 2020

 

WASHINGTON, DC - SEPTEMBER 6: White House Counsel Don McGahn looks on as Supreme Court nominee Judge Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on the third day of his Supreme Court confirmation hearing on Capitol Hill September 6, 2018 in Washington, DC. Kavanaugh was nominated by President Donald Trump to fill the vacancy on the court left by retiring Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Washington (CNN)A federal appeals court Friday dismissed the US House of Representatives' lawsuit seeking to force former White House counsel Don McGahn to testify, in a major win for the White House in its attempts to block officials from testifying to Congress.

In a 2-1 decision, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit ruled it wouldn't police the standoff between the House Judiciary Committee and the White House.

"If federal courts were to swoop in to rescue Congress whenever its constitutional tools failed, it would not just supplement the political process; it would replace that process with one in which unelected judges become the perpetual 'overseer' of our elected officials. That is not the role of judges in our democracy, and that is why Article III compels us to dismiss this case," Judge Thomas Griffith wrote in the opinion.

The case has tested whether the White House could block its current and former officials from speaking to Congress.

However, by ruling that it doesn't have the authority to handle this case, the court didn't make a decision on the validity of the White House's sweeping claim of "absolutely immunity" for its current and former officials.

 

READ: Appeals court rules former White House counsel Don McGahn doesn't have to testify before Congress

The case was one of the most consequential to proceed through the courts during the President's impeachment inquiry and trial. But a decision coming weeks after the impeachment trial ended -- after the Senate refused to call any witnesses -- gives the opinion much less immediate impact.

The House has said it still wants to question McGahn about potentially obstructive behavior from the President toward the Russia investigation, which McGahn witnessed and had disclosed to former special counsel Robert Mueller.

The House won at the trial-court level, with an emphatic opinion from the judge saying, "presidents are not kings."

Judge Judith Rogers, an appointee of Bill Clinton, dissented. Griffith was appointed by George W. Bush. Judge Karen Henderson, who joined Griffith in the majority, was appointed by George H.W. Bush.

The ruling could still face additional appeals, including to the Supreme Court.