Category: JohnBolton

Tuesday in impeachment: Trump’s defense team closes out opening arguments

Posted on by Laura Clawson

Donald Trump’s impeachment defense team spent Monday strenuously ignoring the news that there is a firsthand witness willing to testify under subpoena that Trump linked military aid to Ukraine to the country helping him out with some election interference. Expect more of the same on Tuesday, when the defense’s opening arguments resume at 1 PM ET.

This is the final day of defense arguments, and in theory it could stretch into the early hours of Wednesday, since Trump’s lawyers haven’t even used half of their 24 hours. But it’s generally expected that they won’t use all their time. This makes sense: Since they’re not spending meaningful time on the facts or evidence, every hour of defense arguments is another hour of repetition of the same lies and conspiracy theories and spurious constitutional claims, with the occasional detour into “They’re tying themselves to Rudy Giuliani? Really?”

After opening arguments from both sides have ended—likely starting Wednesday—the senators will have a chance to submit written questions to be read by Chief Justice John Roberts. The question-and-answer period will last 16 hours.

The big question for the week is whether Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell will then be able to rush an acquittal, or whether four or more Republican senators will decide that former national security adviser John Bolton’s eyewitness account of Trump’s Ukraine extortion is worth hearing—or at least that the political downside of such an extreme cover-up is too big to risk. But first we have to get through the rest of these mendacious opening arguments.

Some House Democrats push for Bolton to testify in House as Senate Republicans keep pushing cover-up

Posted on by Laura Clawson

House Democrats have been reluctant to call former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in recent weeks, but that may be changing. Bolton wrote in his forthcoming book that Donald Trump explicitly told him that the hold on military aid to Ukraine was connected to Trump’s push for Ukraine to investigate his political opponents, but most Senate Republicans sound as committed as ever to covering up for Trump.

The House Intelligence Committee had asked Bolton to testify in November, but after he refused to do so without a court battle and the House sent impeachment articles to the Senate, House Democrats argued that the question of Bolton’s testimony was now in the Senate’s hands for the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Now, though, Mother Jones reports that “several House Democrats on Monday initiated talks within their caucus about taking the dramatic step of subpoenaing him or once again requesting that he testify before a House committee, according to multiple Democratic sources.”

Adam Schiff, the House Intelligence Committee chair and lead House impeachment trial manager, continues to be opposed to subpoenaing Bolton, not wanting Senate Republicans to use “but the House” as an excuse for not voting to have Bolton as an impeachment trial witness. What if (when) Senate Republicans push through their cover-up, though? Are House Democrats just going to leave Bolton’s likely testimony dangling?

Trump’s impeachment defense resumes Monday amid fallout from Bolton bombshell

Posted on by Laura Clawson

What is Donald Trump’s defense team going to do during their impeachment trial arguments now that former national security adviser John Bolton has blown up one of their key contentions? They’ve insisted again and again that no witnesses had heard directly from Trump that Ukraine aid was held up to get investigations of Trump’s political opponents. But now we learn that Bolton’s book says that he had exactly that conversation with Trump—and Bolton has said he would testify under subpoena. 

The impeachment trial will resume at 1 PM ET with Trump’s defense team continuing the opening arguments it briefly launched on Saturday, at the time strongly centering that “there are no eyewitness accounts” claim. The Sunday evening report of Bolton’s claim should pose a problem to any defense team. But does this one care enough? 

Pat Cipollone, Jay Sekulow, and the rest of Trump’s lawyers have been content to lie and attack. They’re unlikely to change that basic strategy now, whether they continue on as if there was no new information, or acknowledge the reports in order to attack Bolton. But it will be interesting to see if they appear at least a little flustered. If they seem to have had a late night trying to reformulate their case even the slightest bit. If there’s visible flop sweat.

The other question is how Senate Republicans will respond. They’ve been okay with the whole lie-and-attack defense because they want to cover up what Trump did and move on, Republican political power intact. They’ve swallowed the Trump arguments whole, no matter how ridiculous, while feigning deep outrage every time Democrats have suggested that there’s a problem with covering up a president’s efforts to solicit foreign interference to benefit him in an election. Thanks to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s tight restrictions on cameras, we don’t get to see the senators’ reactions. But it sure is going to be interesting to hear from reporters how the atmosphere in the Senate chamber and the demeanor of key senators compare with previous days.

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

Posted on by Joan McCarter

Senate 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."

It's time to end McConnell's destructive stranglehold on the republic. Please give $1 to our nominee fund to help Democrats and end McConnell's career as Senate majority leader.

There is no way that McConnell didn't know what the White House was sitting on with the Bolton manuscript. There is no way that McConnell wasn't acting with the White House to keep this information from his Republican senators. If in fact he did keep it under wraps. If they're blindsided by anything, it's because they thought the White House had done a better job at shutting Bolton up.

This one on John Bolton was a big, stupid lie even by Trump standards

Posted on by Laura Clawson

Donald Trump responded in the most Donald Trump way to news that former national security adviser John Bolton wrote that Donald Trump personally told him that military aid to Ukraine was held up until Ukraine investigated Trump’s political opponents: He lied. And Trump didn’t just lie about whether he held up the aid to get help in the 2020 elections. He lied about something that can easily, publicly be proven as a lie.

According to an early morning Trump rage-tweet, “The Democrat controlled House never even asked John Bolton to testify. It is up to them, not up to the Senate!” This is so ridiculously false it's embarrassing even by Trump’s standards.

The House Intelligence Committee scheduled a deposition with Bolton in early November, then waited to see if he’d show up. Bolton instead said he would go to court to get a ruling on whether the White House could block him from testifying. “We would welcome John Bolton’s deposition and he did not appear as he was requested today,” the Intelligence Committee said in a statement at the time. “His counsel has informed us that unlike three other dedicated public servants who worked for him on the NSC and have complied with lawful subpoenas, Mr. Bolton would take us to court if we subpoenaed him.” Instead, the committee marked Bolton’s refusal, under White House pressure, as another piece of Trump’s obstruction of Congress.

Trump needs the world to believe him over Bolton, to believe that he did not tell Bolton that the Ukraine aid was on hold for his own political benefit. But he can’t even tell the truth about the House having called Bolton to testify in the impeachment inquiry. That’s how much Donald Trump’s word is worth, and how much contempt he has for people who remember things that happened all the way back in November. John Bolton is warmongering scum, but there’s just no contest here.

Senate Republicans fear that if Bolton testifies, ‘the floodgates are open’

Posted on by Laura Clawson

In a reasonable world, the bombshell report that former national security adviser John Bolton wrote that Donald Trump tied military aid to Ukraine to investigations targeting his political opponents would have immediately prompted a stream of Republican senators to say that they were voting to have witnesses testify in Trump’s impeachment trial. Well, in a reasonable world, Republican senators would already have supported the testimony of witnesses—but we don’t live in either of those worlds, and we’re still waiting to hear if even four Republicans will do the right thing.

Even anonymous Republican sources for insider D.C. publications aren’t making any bold predictions about what’s going to happen next. Axios reports, “GOP sources say the revelation could be enough to sway the four Republican senators needed for witnesses.” Could be, not will definitely. Politico Playbook wrote that “our GOP sources said they could not predict what was going to happen now with witnesses, and the Republican Conference lunch today will be key in determining the state of play.” Again, no guarantees.

Trump’s defenders have insisted again and again that the many witnesses to his pressure campaign against Ukraine didn’t count because none of them had heard directly from him that nearly $400 million in military aid was held up specifically to demand investigations into Trump’s political opponents. That’s exactly what Bolton’s book reportedly does say: that Trump told him that was the reason for the hold-up. 

But the fact that Bolton could knock down that critical Trump defense is exactly one of the reasons Team Trump will fight having him testify. A Republican source told Axios that “there is a sense in the Senate that if one witness is allowed, the floodgates are open.” If Bolton testifies, who knows? It might be harder for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to block other witnesses and evidence: “If [Bolton] says stuff that implicates, say Mick [Mulvaney] or [Mike] Pompeo, then calls for them will intensify.”

In other words, Bolton’s revelation increases public and media pressure on Senate Republicans to vote to call witnesses at the impeachment trial. But, if anything, it increases pressure from Team Trump and Senate Republican leadership to block witnesses, because they know just how devastating this could be. 

Senate Republicans face a very simple question: continue to cover up, or do the rock-bottom minimum needed for a fair impeachment trial? 

House impeachment managers: Bolton ‘directly contradicts the heart’ of Trump’s defense

Posted on by Hunter

The team of House managers presenting the case for impeachment in the Senate trial of Donald Trump have released their first statement responding to the news that John Bolton asserts Trump personally told him he was freezing congressionally-approved military aid to Ukraine until Ukraine agreed to assist in investigations of Democrats and his potential challenger Joe Biden:

“Today’s explosive revelation that President Trump personally told former National Security Advisor John Bolton that he would continue the freeze on military aid to Ukraine until that country agreed to his political investigations confirms what we already know. There can be no doubt now that Mr. Bolton directly contradicts the heart of the President’s defense and therefore must be called as a witness at the impeachment trial of President Trump.

“Senators should insist that Mr. Bolton be called as a witness, and provide his notes and other relevant documents. The Senate trial must seek the full truth and Mr. Bolton has vital information to provide. There is no defensible reason to wait until his book is published, when the information he has to offer is critical to the most important decision Senators must now make—whether to convict the President of impeachable offenses.

“During our impeachment inquiry, the President blocked our request for Mr. Bolton’s testimony. Now we see why. The President knows how devastating his testimony would be, and, according to the report, the White House has had a draft of his manuscript for review. President Trump’s cover-up must come to an end.

“Americans know that a fair trial must include both the documents and witnesses blocked by the President—that starts with Mr. Bolton.”

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Nancy Pelosi also weighs in:

Amb. Bolton reportedly heard directly from Trump that aid for Ukraine was tied to political investigations.The refusal of the Senate to call for him, other relevant witnesses, and documents is now even more indefensible.The choice is clear: our Constitution, or a cover-up.

Bolton bombshell ramps up the pressure on Senate Republicans to call impeachment witnesses

Posted on (Updated by Laura Clawson

The report that former national security adviser John Bolton’s book says Donald Trump told him that nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine was held up to pressure the country to interfere in the 2020 elections is a direct challenge to every Republican senator. The supposedly “moderate” Republican senators have been frantically searching for any excuse to vote against calling witnesses in Trump’s impeachment—Democrats were mean! Why didn’t the House spend months and months in the courts so that Republicans could accuse them of impeaching close to an election?—but with a report that one of the key witnesses Democrats are seeking can and will fill in exactly what Trump said about his pressure campaign against Ukraine, their excuses are all gone.

That’s not to say that Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Cory Gardner, Mitt Romney, and Lamar Alexander will do the right thing. Four of them need to step up and vote for a real trial rather than a continued cover-up. Four of them—or any other Senate Republican—need to be brave enough to go against Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. But the fact that we have to question whether four out of 53 Republicans will do this most basic thing to protect the integrity of the presidency and U.S. democracy is yet another indictment of today’s Republican Party and its drive for power above all else.

John Bolton is a hard-right warmonger, but somehow Senate Republicans and Donald Trump are making him look good—that’s how bad they are. “Bolton's motivations for testimony - he has a story he wants to tell, and he is concerned he'll be accused of holding stuff back to juice his book sales instead of speaking out,” New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman tweeted.

Now it’s on the Senate. Specifically, any four Senate Republicans to say that they put country, Constitution, and democracy above the short-term interests of Donald Trump and his Republican Party. 

John Bolton: Trump explicitly said Ukraine aid freeze was tied to investigations into Democrats

Posted on by Hunter

Former national security adviser John Bolton has refused House demands that he testify on the events surrounding the freezing of military aid to Ukraine and the efforts by Donald Trump’s allies and administration officials to pressure the Ukrainian government into announcing an investigation into potential Trump election opponent Joe Biden. Bolton is instead writing a book on his tenure.

In the now-circulating manuscript for that unreleased book, reports The New York Times, Bolton writes that Donald Trump personally told him he would continue to freeze the nearly $400 million in aid until Ukrainian officials aided his desired investigations into “Democrats” and “the Bidens.”

Bolton’s manuscript alleges direct involvement in the scheme to falsely smear and remove U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, reports The Times, and Pompeo both knew the claims to be false and suspected Giuliani was “acting on behalf of other clients.” Bolton also says he personally spoke with Trump Attorney General William Barr to inform Barr that Trump had identified him as part of Rudy Giuliani’s efforts on his now-infamous call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky: Barr’s office had previously denied that he knew about that call until much later.

Importantly, The Times reports that the Trump White House was sent the manuscript for a standard pre-publication administration review in “recent weeks”—meaning Trump, his legal team, and others implicated have known what Bolton would testify to during this period in which they have loudly and angrily insisted that the Senate call no witnesses. If the White House has intentionally delayed or frozen the book’s publication in an attempt to block it until after the conclusion of the Senate impeachment trial, it could constitute yet another act meant to obstruct justice.

Senate Republicans’ latest cover-up excuse: Trump will obstruct witnesses, so why bother?

Posted on by Laura Clawson

Senate Republicans are using Donald Trump’s obstruction of Congress as an excuse for letting him get away with obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. Trump would assert executive privilege to prevent former national security adviser John Bolton from testifying, they say, leading to a long court fight, so … there’s no point in having him testify.

“There will be parts of their testimony, they will be covered by executive privilege and parts that are not. Those have to be litigated. That'll take a couple of months to be able to go through the process,” according to Sen. James Lankford. Enough other Republicans say similar things for it to be a verified talking point, not just an individual concern.

There are so many problems with this. For one thing:

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Okay, actually that was two points: Trump claiming executive privilege to shield himself in an impeachment trial would be unprecedented, and executive privilege is not a gag order on Bolton, who has already said that he would testify under subpoena.

Additionally, Republicans are talking about the courts taking too long. Guess who’s presiding over the impeachment trial? United States Chief Justice John Roberts. Gonna bet that he could short-circuit the court battle on this.

But beyond that, seriously, Republicans? I know your lack of shame knows no bounds, but “He doesn’t want the witnesses to testify so really there’s nothing to be done” would be pathetic if it was sincere. As it is, it’s simply one more piece of evidence of how far Republicans will go to maintain power, embracing the most ridiculous of excuses to avoid making even more details of Trump’s abuses of power public.

As a reminder, large majorities of Americans say the Senate should call witnesses in this impeachment trial, and it would take just four Republican senators to make it happen.