the special counsel. in the report, mcgahn testified the president called him twice mid-june of 2017. mcgahn said both times trump directed him to call rod rosenstein and tell him mueller was conflicted and could not serve as special counsel. and here now is how the report explains it. and we quote. when the president called mcgahn a second time to follow up on the order to call the department of justice, mcgahn recalled that the president was more direct, saying something like call rod, tell rod that mueller has conflicts and can t be the special counsel. mcgahn recalled the president telling him, mueller has to go, and call me back when you do it. mcgahn understood the president to be saying that the special counsel had to be removed by rosenstein. mcgahn of course never followed through on that. and in fact the report says he wanted to resign but ended up staying on the job. well, fast forward, january 25th