Trump 'expected' to tell McGahn to ignore a congressional subpoena: report

President Donald Trump is "expected" to tell former White House counsel Don McGahn to ignore a subpoena from the House of Representatives in a bid to prevent his public testimony, the New York Times reports.

McGahn was subpoenaed to attend a House Judiciary Committee hearing on Tuesday, but now that appearance is in doubt because of Trump's maneuvering to block his former White House counsel from testifying, the Times writes.

"The White House plans to provide Mr. McGahn, who left the post last year, with a legal opinion from the Justice Department to justify his defying the subpoena," the publication's source claims.

The Times report goes on to note that "if Mr. McGahn does not appear before the committee on Tuesday, he risks a contempt of Congress citation," while if "he defies the White House, Mr. McGahn could not only damage his own career in Republican politics but also put his law firm, Jones Day, at risk of having the president urge his allies to withhold their business."

McGahn has emerged as a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into whether Trump obstructed justice. The former White House counsel testified under oath to Mueller's team that the president instructed him to fire the special counsel -- and he then asked McGahn to issue a public statement falsely denying that he had ever told Mueller of Trump's attempts to fire him.