White House Counsel Don McGahn Exits After String of Judicial Confirmation Victories

Don McGahn, then-general counsel for the Trump transition team, gets into an elevator in the lobby at Trump Tower in New York City on Nov. 15, 2016. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

President Donald Trump’s White House counsel, GOP establishment lawyer Donald F. McGahn II, resigned from his post Oct. 17, according to multiple media reports. McGahn was key in getting two controversial nominees onto the Supreme Court and ran Trump’s legal defense in the saga arising from the Russian electoral collusion theory.

McGahn’s resignation clears the way for his replacement, Pat A. Cipollone, a specialist in defamation defense and complex litigation. Cipollone’s talents could prove useful for Trump if Democrats—who promise extensive investigations of Trump—recapture the House of Representatives in the Nov. 6 elections.

Judicial Confirmations

McGahn became a ubiquitous, if unrecognized, figure in America’s living rooms during the recent confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, usually appearing on TV seated behind the nominee’s left shoulder.