US President Donald Trump has said that White House lawyer Don McGahn will leave his post in the autumn after shepherding the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court.
The relationship between Mr Trump and Mr McGahn, a Washington insider who was chief counsel for Mr Trump's presidential run, has become strained by the pressures of the investigation into alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Mr McGahn, one of President Trump's earliest appointments to the White House, voluntarily cooperated with special counsel Robert Mueller and his team.
"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," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.
"I have worked with Don for a long timeand truly appreciate his service!"
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. I have worked with Don for a long time and truly appreciate his service!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 29, 2018
Mr McGahn's departure was widely expected.
He will be the latest in a series of high-ranking White House officials to leave President Trump's side in what has been an unprecedented level of staff turnover.
We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
