Thread by @JoshuaMatz8

I'm late to the party but have four thoughts on how this statement affects a number of the ongoing battles between #Trump and the #House -- including those relating to investigations, subpoenas, and obstruction of justice.

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1121380133137461248

First, to the extent Trump disputes the accuracy of key facts in the #Mueller report, that massively enhances Congress's case for seeing the unredacted report, having #Mueller testify, having #McGahn testify, and having its subpoenas honored. So Trump shot himself in the foot.

Second, McGahn is a potentially dangerous witness for Trump, so Trump's pattern of attacking him (manifested yet again here) is very risky. Indeed, Trump's penchant for publicly blasting current and former officials may well cause him many more headaches going forward.

Third, one of Trump's main defenses is that there was no proof of obstruction. But as I explained in the NYT two days ago, a President can be impeached for endeavoring to obstruct to justice, even if his own staff engages in insubordination and refuses to carry out his orders.

So the truth or falsity of McGahn's statements to Mueller bears directly on whether Trump committed a potentially impeachable or censure-worthy offense. This creates yet another compelling reason for Congress to demand his testimony.

Finally, Trump is wrong; he couldn't have fired Mueller directly. That order would have gone through Rosenstein or the Attorney General. It's true that Trump could have bypassed McGahn, but if he tried to fire Mueller, others would surely have threatened to resign in protest.

So, as is often true, Trump's claim to imperial power to do whatever he wants is false. He's trying to look strong because in fact he was weak--and knew it.