Trump Says He Plans to Fight ‘All the Subpoenas’

Trump Says He Plans to Fight ‘All the Subpoenas’
President Donald Trump speaks at a roundtable on the economy and tax reform at Nuss Trucking and Equipment in Burnsville, Minn., on April 15, 2019. (Adam Bettcher/Getty Images)
Janita Kan
4/24/2019
Updated:
4/24/2019

President Donald Trump told reporters on April 24 that he intends to fight “all the subpoenas” when asked about the recent subpoena for testimony from ex-White House counsel Don McGahn.

“The subpoena is ridiculous. … We just went through the Mueller witch hunt where you had really 18 angry Democrats that hate President Trump. They hate him with a passion… And they came up with no collusion and they actually also came up with no obstruction,” Trump said just before boarding Marine One to travel to a conference in Atlanta.

“Now the House goes and starts subpoenas. They want to do every deal I’ve ever done. Now Mueller, I assume, for 35 million dollars, checked my taxes, checked my financials–which are great, by the way … They checked my financials and they checked my taxes, I assume. It was the most thorough investigation probably in the history of our country,” the president added.

Earlier this week, House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) subpoenaed McGahn, who resigned from his post in October last year, to testify publicly next month and to provide documents. The top Democrat said that McGahn is a vital witness regarding whether Trump obstructed justice in incidents described in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

Trump described the subpoena as a move by the Democrats to gain support before the 2020 election.

“These aren’t like impartial people. The Democrats are trying to win 2020. They’re not going to win with the people that I see. And they’re not gonna win against me. The only way they can maybe luck out, and I don’t think that’s gonna happen—it might make it even the opposite, that’s what a lot of people are saying—the only way they can luck out is by constantly going after me on nonsense,” the president told reporters.

“I say it’s enough. Get back to infrastructure. Get back to cutting taxes. Get back to lowering drug prices,” Trump added.

The House Democrat’s subpoena comes days after Mueller’s final redacted report was released. The report supported Attorney General William Barr’s initial conclusion, which stated there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election and found that the special counsel did not provide enough evidence to substantiate that the president obstructed justice.

Attorney General William Barr speaks alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O'Callaghan, left, about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, on April 18, 2019. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)
Attorney General William Barr speaks alongside Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, right, and acting Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Edward O'Callaghan, left, about the release of a redacted version of special counsel Robert Mueller's report during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, on April 18, 2019. (Patrick Semansky/AP Photo)
Barr said during a press conference on April 18 that based on the evidence, Trump did not obstruct the investigation.

This finding has outraged House Democrats and prompted hearings and investigations into the obstruction of justice claims that they hoped would lead to impeachment.

On a conference call on April 22, Democratic leaders made it clear that they are rejecting Barr’s conclusion of the Mueller report, saying that they believe Trump did obstruct justice, according to people on the call who weren’t authorized to discuss it by name.

“The Special Counsel’s report, even in redacted form, outlines substantial evidence that President Trump engaged in obstruction and other abuses,” Nadler said in a statement released during the conference call, adding that Congress will probe into Trump-related matters to determine alleged misconduct.

In a series of Tweets on April 24, Trump criticized the Democrats for pursuing the matter, adding that if the Democrats tried to impeach him, he would get the Supreme Court involved.

“The Mueller Report, despite being written by Angry Democrats and Trump Haters, and with unlimited money behind it ($35,000,000), didn’t lay a glove on me. I DID NOTHING WRONG. If the partisan Dems ever tried to Impeach, I would first head to the U.S. Supreme Court. Not only are there no ‘High Crimes and Misdemeanors,’ there are no Crimes by me at all. All of the Crimes were committed by Crooked Hillary, the Dems, the DNC, and Dirty Cops—and we caught them in the act! We waited for Mueller and WON, so now the Dems look to Congress as last hope,” Trump tweeted.

In another post, Trump said the Democrats are using their time to continue the “witch hunt” rather than focusing on more important issues.

“No Collusion, No Obstruction—there has NEVER been a President who has been more transparent. Millions of pages of documents were given to the Mueller Angry Dems, plus I allowed everyone to testify, including W.H. counsel. I didn’t have to do this, but now they want more Congress has no time to legislate, they only want to continue the Witch Hunt, which I have already won. They should start looking at The Criminals who are already very well known to all. This was a Rigged System—WE WILL DRAIN THE SWAMP!” Trump wrote.

Along with issuing a subpoena on McGahn, Nadler also issued a subpoena for the full unredacted Mueller report on April 19, despite the fact that Barr has already provided a less-redacted version of the report to select members of Congress.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.