Tag: John Bolton

What did Mitch McConnell know about Bolton bombshell — and when did he know it?

AlterNet logoSenate Republicans are reportedly feeling “blindsided” by the revelation from John Bolton’s upcoming book that Donald Trump personally told the former national security adviser that he was withholding aid to Ukraine until he got his investigations into Democrats and the Bidens. They want to know who in the White House knew about this and why it was withheld from them, they say. They should be looking closer to home, at their majority leader, Mitch McConnell, if indeed this news came as a total shock to them.

Bolton’s lawyer said he provided the manuscript of his book to the White House on Dec. 30. That’s two weeks after McConnell promised Sean Hannity on Fox News, “Everything I do during this, I’m coordinating with White House Counsel. There will be no difference between the president’s position and our position as to how to handle this.” Just a few days after that interview, McConnell told reporters, “I’m not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There’s not anything judicial about it. […] I would anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the Senate. I’m not impartial about this at all.” He also said that it was the House’s “duty to investigate” and not the Senate’s, and that “we certainly do not need ‘jurors’ to start brainstorming witness lists for the prosecution.” Continue reading.

 

Legal scholars explain why John Bolton’s book could expose Trump lawyers to criminal liability

AlterNet logoOver the weekend, Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt reported in the New York Times that former National Security Adviser John Bolton — in an unpublished  manuscript of his new book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” due out March 17 — asserts that President Donald Trump and his allies directly tied military aid to Ukraine with an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. This was the “quid pro quo” that House Democrats alleged during their impeachment hearings last year and continue to allege in Trump’s impeachment trial before the U.S. Senate. And legal writer Jerry Lambe, in an article for Law & Crime, reports that the Bolton’s assertion might subject Trump’s lawyers to criminal exposure.

“The threshold question is whether the president’s attorneys were aware of the information contained in the manuscript,” Lambe explains. “According to a letter from Bolton’s attorney, Charles J. Cooper, the White House was made aware of the book on December 30. The bombshell revelations reportedly therein could not only change tenor of the Senate trial by forcing the chamber to hear from witnesses such as Bolton — they may place the president’s impeachment attorneys in a precarious position.”

On Sunday night, attorney Mark S. Zaid tweeted, “At least some members of Trump’s legal team also likely knew of Bolton’s knowledge which, if so, potentially subjects them to criminal perjury charges or legal disciplinary actions for their statements before the Senate.” Continue reading.

Romney: ‘Increasingly likely’ other GOP senators will support hearing from Bolton

The Hill logoSen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) said on Monday that he believes it is more likely other Republican senators will support subpoenaing former national security adviser John Bolton in the wake of an explosive New York Times report.

Romney said it’s “increasingly apparent” that the Senate should hear from Bolton after the Times reported that he claims in his forthcoming memoir that President Trump tied Ukraine aid to help with investigations into Democrats.

“It’s pretty fair to say John Bolton has relevant testimony,” Romney told reporters. “I think it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton.” Continue reading.

Republicans fear the ‘floodgates’ will open if John Bolton testifies during Trump’s impeachment trial: report

AlterNet logoFormer National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” isn’t due out until March 17, but Maggie Haberman and Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times are reporting that according to an “unpublished manuscript” of the book, Bolton asserts that President Donald Trump and his allies tied military aid to Ukraine with an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden. And in Axios, journalists Jonathan Swan, Mike Allen and Alayna Treene are reporting that Trump’s Republican supporters are seriously worried that the “floodgates” will open if Bolton testifies at Trump’s impeachment trial.

Trump and his allies have vehemently denied that there was ever a “quid pro quo” when it came to a Bidens investigation and military aid to Ukraine, while the House Democrats who led the impeachment inquiry against Trump last year have maintained that there most certainly was a “quid pro quo.” And according to Haberman and Schmidt’s report, Trump’s former national security adviser is confirming in his book that House Democrats are right.

Axios quotes a “top” White House aide as saying that if Bolton testifies during Trump’s impeachment trial, things can only get worse for the president. Continue reading.

Senate Republicans face pivotal moment on impeachment witnesses

The Hill logoRepublicans in the Senate are facing new pressure to subpoena key witnesses on the impeachment trial of President Trump. 

The Senate was headed into the second week of the trial facing a pivotal vote on the subject, and it looked like Democrats would almost certainly not win the four GOP votes needed to subpoena new witnesses.

But that was before a report Sunday night in The New York Times. Continue reading.

Trump Tied Ukraine Aid to Inquiries He Sought, Bolton Book Says

New York Times logoDrafts of the book outline the potential testimony of the former national security adviser if he were called as a witness in the president’s impeachment trial.

WASHINGTON — President Trump told his national security adviser in August that he wanted to continue freezing $391 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats including the Bidens, according to an unpublished manuscript by the former adviser, John R. Bolton.

The president’s statement as described by Mr. Bolton could undercut a key element of his impeachment defense: that the holdup in aid was separate from Mr. Trump’s requests that Ukraine announce investigations into his perceived enemies, including former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and his son Hunter Biden, who had worked for a Ukrainian energy firm while his father was in office.

Mr. Bolton’s explosive account of the matter at the center of Mr. Trump’s impeachment trial, the third in American history, was included in drafts of a manuscript he has circulated in recent weeks to close associates. He also sent a draft to the White House for a standard review process for some current and former administration officials who write books. Continue reading.

Senate blocks push to subpoena Bolton in impeachment trial

The Hill logoSenate Republicans blocked an attempt by Democrats to include a deal on former national security adviser John Bolton‘s testimony in the impeachment trial rules.

Democrats forced a vote in the early morning hours Wednesday on calling Bolton to testify, but it was tabled, effectively pigeonholing it, in a 53-47 party-line vote.

The proposal from Democrats would have inserted language into the trial rules resolution, which is expected to be passed later on Tuesday, to subpoena Bolton. The failed vote followed a similar unsuccessful effort to subpoena acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), speaking for the first time from the Senate floor, said Republicans and Trump were “afraid” to let Bolton testify because “they know he knows too much.” Continue reading.

Trump’s lawyers, Senate GOP allies work privately to ensure Bolton does not testify publicly

Washington Post logoPresident Trump’s legal defense team and Senate GOP allies are quietly gaming out contingency plans should Democrats win enough votes to force witnesses to testify in the impeachment trial, including an effort to keep former national security adviser John Bolton from the spotlight, according to multiple officials familiar with the discussions.

While Republicans continue to express confidence that Democrats will fail to persuade four GOP lawmakers to break ranks with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who has opposed calling any witnesses in the trial, they are readying a Plan B just in case — underscoring how uncertain they are about prevailing in a showdown over witnesses and Bolton’s possible testimony.

One option being discussed, according to a senior administration official, would be to move Bolton’s testimony to a classified setting because of national security concerns, ensuring that it is not public. Continue reading.

More bad news for McConnell: Two-thirds of voters want to see John Bolton testify

AlterNet logoIn the wake of multiple polls showing strong majorities of Americans believe the Senate impeachment trial should include witnesses and documents, a Quinnipiac survey finds that 66% of voters want to hear from one person in particular: former Trump national security adviser John Bolton. That 66% includes 39% of Republicans, 71% of independents, and 91% of Democrats.

Bolton’s willingness to testify in the Senate if subpoenaed is among the biggest prizes House Speaker Nancy Pelosi acquired while delaying transmission of the articles of impeachment. Along with being quoted by his subordinates as calling Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani a “hand grenade,” Bolton had unique proximity to Trump during some of the most critical episodes in the Ukraine scandal. His testimony could send shockwaves through the GOP, based on his outsized stature within the party and all the information he was privy to. Continue reading.

Legal, security experts blast Rubio’s refusal to subpoena Bolton for Trump impeachment trial: ‘Utterly wrong and utterly ahistorical’

AlterNet logoAlthough former National Security Adviser John Bolton did not testify during House Democrats’ recent impeachment inquiry against President Donald Trump, he said in an official statement on Monday that he is “prepared to testify” during Trump’s Senate trial if subpoenaed. But Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, in response, is saying that he will not vote in favor of subpoenaing Bolton — and attorney Jerry Lambe, in a January 6 article for Law & Crime, notes that a long list of legal and security experts as well as some journalists are lambasting Rubio for his absurd position.

On Twitter, Rubio posted, “The testimony & evidence considered in a Senate impeachment trial should be the same testimony & evidence the House relied upon when they passed the Articles of Impeachment. Our job is to vote on what the House passed, not to conduct an open ended inquiry.”

Paul Rosenzweig, former deputy assistant secretary for policy in the Department of Homeland Security, tweeted, “Marco, that’s both utterly wrong and utterly ahistorical. In fact, to the contrary, in every impeachment since the founding, the Senate has taken some evidence.” Continue reading.