Grade 2 of 5: Major Abuse of Power
Mueller Investigation Obstruction: Witness Tampering, McGahn, Flynn Pardon Signal
The Mueller Report documented a sustained pattern of obstruction. Trump ordered McGahn to fire Mueller in June 2017; McGahn refused and prepared to resign. Trump later ordered McGahn to publicly deny having received this order; McGahn refused. Trump publicly praised associates who did not cooperate and attacked those who did. The Mueller Report examined whether Trump's public and private statements about Manafort were intended to signal that a pardon was possible and so discourage cooperation. Mueller concluded that Congress, not the Special Counsel, was the appropriate institution to address obstruction given OLC policy against indicting a sitting president.