(thread) some reporting on McGahn, based on conversations with WH officials and Trump allies... he was taken aback by today's tweet, but also knew it would prob come this way, as it has for so many others. Has been focused in recent wks on SCOTUS, not repairing bond w/ president.
Flood is widely seen as likely replacement and was personally recruited by McGahn to join the WH back in the spring. Flood has built a rapport w/ POTUS, to McGahn's relief. But no decision finalized yet. Flood knows impeachment, shares McGahn worldview on exec priv.
McGahn takes immense pride on judicial work & has increasingly devoted his energies there + to lower profile reg work. Avoids Russia convos like the plague inside and outside WH. Has fully cooperated with Mueller but groused repeatedly about Cobb/Dowd decision to have him do so.
The NYT story that highlighted McGahn's hours of interviews with Mueller was seen by McGahn and his friends as a problem--not the fact that he sat with Mueller, but how Trump would react. The headline is reality for POTUS. "Beginning of the end," as one McGahn ally put it to me.
McGahn, at times, has gone for days if not weeks of not engaging at length w/ POTUS. Clashes over Russia probe / DOJ left him burned, but still there. He and Trump actually enjoy each other's company (unlike many admin officials who rarely click w/ Trump), but damage was done.
