Donald McGahn to Leave White House Counsel Job this Fall, Trump Says | Social

But some members of conservative legal circles in which Mr. McGahn has worked suggested that he had grown weary of serving as the top lawyer in a White House that has drawn more than the usual share of legal scrutiny.

George T. Conway III, who withdrew last year as Mr. Trump’s choice for a top post in the Justice Department, and is the husband of Kellyanne Conway, the counselor to the president, responded to Mr. Grassley by tweeting, “remember the eighth amendment, senator.” It was a reference to the prohibition in the Constitution against cruel and unusual punishment.

Mr. McGahn was interviewed several times by Mr. Mueller’s investigators, disclosing to them several details about episodes like the abrupt firing last May of James B. Comey, the F.B.I. director.

[The White House counsel, Donald F. McGahn II, has cooperated extensively in the Mueller inquiry.]

The firings of top Trump administration officials have brought the Russia investigation closer to the president in a variety of ways.