In a long-forgotten lawsuit, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has ruled that Congress can use a subpoena to compel the testimony of an Administration staffer, further undermining the Trump claim of “absolute immunity,” CNN reports.
In a 7-2 ruling, with two Trump-appointed judges recusing themselves, the Court ruled that the House of Representatives has the legal ability to compel former White House Counsel Don McGahn to testify.
As with the earlier SCOTUS ruling in the Mazar’s case, the Circuit Court noted that McGahn can continue to appeal the subpoena based on laws available to any other citizen, but McGahn and the Administration cannot rely on a special status that doesn’t exist for the president.
That means that McGahn likely won’t testify anytime soon as he continues to appeal the subpoena, but it cements a key aspect of Congress’s oversight ability.
“Each House of Congress is specifically empowered to compel testimony from witnesses and the production of evidence in service of its constitutional functions, and the recipient of a subpoena is obligated by law to comply,” the court held in the majority opinion by Judge Judith Rogers.
The House Judiciary Committee initially subpoenaed McGahn in spring 2019 to testify regarding the firing of FBI Director Jim Comey and the subsequent Mueller investigation.