President Donald Trump fired White House Counsel Don McGahn Wednesday morning in a tweet that McGahn reportedly had no idea was coming.
"White House Counsel Don McGahn will be leaving his position in the fall, shortly after the confirmation (hopefully) of Judge Brett Kavanaugh to the United States Supreme Court," Trump wrote. "I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!"
According to Rosalind Helderman of the Washington Post, McGahn was "surprised, though attitude was 'of course it happened this way.'"
McGahn's departure comes days after it was revealed that he spent more than 30 hours providing testimony and documents to Special Counsel Robert Mueller and his investigation into Trump-Russia collusion and the president's alleged attempts to obstruct justice.
The president's announcement was met with shock and bewilderment inside Washington political circles.
Particularly from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) who responded on Twitter in such an earnest pure way:
Grassley's office followed up his tweet with a statement about McGahn.
Senator Grassley has admired Mr. McGahn's work over the last two years and has considered him integral to the President's record-breaking success on filling judicial vacancies. From Senator Grassley's perspective, there's not been any White House Counsel who has worked so well and so efficiently with the chairman's office and the Senate Judiciary Committee on judges.
Grassley's tweet was met with immediate mockery. Social media blasted the Iowa Republican for never having the stones to check Trump.
Others think Grassley is "panicking" because he knows McGahn has dirt on Trump - and likely others in Republican politics. Also, big points for the S.A.T. word, "quisling." Nice.
George Conway, the husband of White House senior advisor Kellyanne Conway, suggested Grassley "remember the Eighth Amendment."
On Monday, reports indicated that Trump was at odds with McGahn over the prospect of pardoning Paul Manafort, Trump's former campaign chair who was convicted of eight felonies earlier this month. McGahn, it was said, staunchly opposed the idea.
Brett Kavanaugh, Trump's pick to replace Justice Anthony Kennedy on the Supreme Court, is set to begin his confirmation hearings before the U.S. Senate on September 4th, but Democrats are pushing to delay those hearings, in part because of a lack of transparency when it comes to Kavanaugh's records from when he worked in the White House.
And Grassley, as Chairman of Judiciary, has been key to that lack of transparency. People called Grassley out for this as well.
Proceeding without all the documents? "U can't let that happen."
Grassley could vote 'no' on Kavanaugh but we know that's not going to happen.
Trump is rumored to be considering replacing McGahn with Emmet Flood, a lawyer who counseled President Bill Clinton during his impeachment hearings in the 1990's.
The president "does have an excellent relationship with Emmet Flood," Trump's TV lawyer Rudy Giuliani told Time Magazine on Wednesday. "From the very beginning they sort of hit it off."
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images