White (House) Knight

Will Don McGahn save Trump from the Russia probe? Or will he turn on him like John Dean did to Nixon?

- Emily Cadei 

IT’S DIFFICULT for any lawyer to represent someone who is prone to impulsive decisions, selfincriminating statements and potentially corrupt entanglements. But when that someone is the president, your legal advice takes on exponentially more scrutiny and weight.

Which is why Don McGahn, the White House counsel, has one of the hardest jobs in Washington. A 48-year-old election law expert, McGahn has faced plenty of heat for his involvement in almost every controversy with the Trump administration. He was the initial interlocutor with acting Attorney General Sally Yates when she reached out to warn of then–national security adviser Michael Flynn’s potentially compromising conversations with the Russian ambassador. He was the one trying to clean up the mess of President Donald Trump’s first travel ban. And he was part of a small circle of advisers present when Trump decided to fire FBI Director James Comey—the man investigating allegations of collusion between the president’s campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. Now, as four congressional committees and a special counsel continue to probe the White House, he’s defending Trump as the president tries to fend off challenges to his executive authority and an investigation into possible obstruction of justice.