Don McGahn
President Donald Trump has called the departure of White House counsel Don McGahn “a smooth-running machine with changing parts.”
Trump also insisted on Thursday that his daughter played no role in the abrupt departure of McGahn and pushed back at the notion of a White House in chaos.
The announced departure of McGahn, who has emerged as a key witness in the Russia probe shadowing his presidency, was the latest in a long string of firings and resignations to buffet Trump’s administration.
The New York Times reported that McGahn was not forewarned before Trump announced Wednesday on Twitter he would be leaving his post.
The Times said Ivanka Trump had complained bitterly to her father after an earlier Times report said McGahn’s testimony to Special Counsel Robert Mueller had been far more extensive than the president or his lawyers knew.
In a series of tweets on Thursday, Trump said Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner “had NOTHING to do with the so called ‘pushing out’ of Don McGahn.
“The Fake News Media has it, purposely, so wrong!” Trump posted on Twitter.
“They love to portray chaos in the White House when they know that chaos doesn’t exist-just a ‘smooth running machine’ with changing parts!”