Could Don McGahn lead a Trump exodus?

We may be heading into a real live constitutional crisis, folks. A special counsel has carefully documented a series of events showing that the president committed high crimes, using sworn testimony of people directly involved. Since the Justice Department has decided it cannot indict a sitting president, the only path to remove a criminal president resides with the Congress. Now that same president is refusing to acknowledge its constitutional power by failing to provide documents or to allow witnesses to testify, even under subpoena. This showdown is obviously heading to the courts, although the president seems to be somewhat confused about how that works.

It's tempting to make fun of Trump's twisted logic and addled understanding of the basic process of government, but this is a serious matter. He's not just venting before the world on his puerile Twitter feed. The administration is refusing to cooperate with the Congress at all, and that is highly unusual even for presidents under siege.

Normally there is some form of accommodation in these cases, even if the White House wants to claim executive privilege. This administration has decided to totally stonewall everything, from tax returns to testimony about security clearances. Trump and his minions are claiming this privilege after they've already waived it even as the president is blabbing about the matters under subpoena on TV and Twitter.

Trump may not know much about how the government works, but he does understand TV ratings. So I would guess that the main reason for this stonewall is to keep the Democrats from staging dramatic public hearings to illustrate for the American people what Robert Mueller found in his investigation. He apparently understands that he can't keep Mueller from testifying, but Mueller doesn't seem to be the one Trump is worried about. He almost certainly doesn't want to see former staffers like Hope Hicks or Rob Porter on screen testifying about his rampant corruption. But the one who scares him the most is former White House counsel Don McGahn.