COURTS/DEMS/RUSSIA INVESTIGATION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The House Judiciary Committee reached a deal with a key source of information for Robert S. Mueller III’s obstruction of justice investigation that will allow her to delay public testimony that had been scheduled for Monday [6-24-19] but require her to answer written questions as the committee waits. Democrats who control the committee said they were willing to take those steps because the witness, Annie Donaldson, is in her third trimester of pregnancy and lives in Alabama. They said she would still be required to testify in person in the coming months before the committee, which is investigating whether President Trump obstructed justice when he tried to thwart the special counsel’s examination of his campaign’s ties to Russia. But like most everything between Congress and the Trump administration these days, what comes next is unlikely to be that simple. The White House is expected to intervene to try to block Ms. Donaldson, a former White House lawyer, from answering any questions, in writing or in person, about her government service.”
–Nicholas Fandos, “Democrats Strike Deal With an Obstruction Witness, but a Court Fight Looms,” The New York Times online, June 24, 2019