In this Sept 27, 2018, file photo, then-White House counsel Don McGahn listens as Supreme court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington.
(SAUL LOEB/POOL VIA AP)
WASHINGTON - A divided US appeals court handed US President Donald Trump a major legal victory on Friday by dismissing a Democratic-led congressional panel’s lawsuit seeking to enforce a subpoena for testimony from former White House Counsel Donald McGahn.
In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel overturned a Nov 25 ruling by US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson that the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s April subpoena to McGahn was lawful
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit endorsed the Trump administration’s argument that the court had no place in settling the closely watched dispute between the executive and legislative branches of the US government. In doing so, it appeared to endorse an expansive view of presidential powers and prerogatives.
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In a 2-1 decision, a three-judge panel overturned a Nov 25 ruling by US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson that the House of Representatives Judiciary Committee’s April subpoena to McGahn was lawful. In that ruling, Jackson declared “no one is above the law.”
Friday’s decision represented a vindication for the Republican president’s sweeping directive that current and former officials defy congressional requests for testimony and documents on impeachment and a broad range of other subjects.
The two judges in the majority in the ruling were appointed by Republican presidents. The dissenting judge was appointed by a Democratic president.
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The Judiciary Committee had sought testimony from McGahn, who left his post in October 2018, about Trump’s efforts to impede former Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation that documented Russian interference in the 2016 US election.
