In a potentially significant setback for President Donald Trump, a US federal judge on Monday ordered a former White House counsel to comply with a congressional subpoena saying “no one is above the law” and “presidents are not kings”.
The president caught a break, however, from the Supreme Court, which temporarily stayed an appeals court ruling that required Trump to hand over his financial records to a House committee.
US District Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s ruling would force Don McGahn, the counsel, to testify in hearings being held by the House of Representatives into allegations of obstructions of justice, corruption and abuse of power by President Donald Trump.
The department of justice has appealed against the ruling, whose implications are very significant, specially in regard to the ongoing impeachment inquiry against. If upheld, it would pave the pay for some key Trump White House officials to testify, and they include former National Security Adviser John Bolton.
The judge dismissed the White House’s key ground for preventing McGahn from testifying; that he was ”absolutely immune from compelled congressional testimony”.
The White House has blocked, not successfully always, other officials using a similar argument. And one of them has gone to court asking it to settle the question if he can defy a congressional subpoena on the orders of the White House.
{{/usCountry}}The White House has blocked, not successfully always, other officials using a similar argument. And one of them has gone to court asking it to settle the question if he can defy a congressional subpoena on the orders of the White House.
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