Today's big reminder: Don McGahn is the White House counsel, not Donald J. Trump's lawyer.
Important to note "cooperating" is used in the NYT story colloquially, it appears. As in, he appeared voluntarily and answered questions. We knew this was happening. Recall McGahn was talking to the SCO a lot around the time of Flynn's plea: washingtonpost.com/politics/insid… 
Also: Bill Burck — who is representing McGahn and plays a key role in the special counsel's investigation, per the NYT's telling of the story — is also representing the office of George W. Bush and deciding what Kavanaugh papers they're turning over to Senate Judiciary Comte.
And what is one of the most important things Don McGahn is doing for Trump (and conservatives)? Helping get judicial nominees, and particularly appellate and Supreme Court nominees, through and onto the bench.
Another thought: While the story sets up this "was McGahn being set up as a fall guy, or did he misinterpret the signs?" dichotomy, it seems to leave out the possibility that he just gave bad advice at times.
More thoughts on the NYT McGahn story from @emptywheel —>
