Here’s how John Bolton’s upcoming book could seriously complicate Trump’s impeachment
John Bolton returned to the public sphere after leaving his role as national security advisor with a promise on Twitter: “Stay tuned.”
He has since responded with accusations in an upcoming book that President Donald Trump said he wanted to continue withholding more than $300 million in aid to Ukraine until the country’s officials helped investigate Democrats, as first reported by the New York Times. The proposed investigation would also focus on former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, who worked on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma.
Bolton’s account came during Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate, and has thrown a wrench into one of the main arguments for the president’s defense team.
Who is John Bolton?
Bolton served as Trump’s national security advisor from April 2018 to September 2019. He previously served as the United Nations ambassador under former President George W. Bush, a foreign policy advisor to then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney and a commentator on Fox News.
As a member of the Trump administration, Bolton took aggressive stances on U.S. relations with Venezuela, Afghanistan and other countries. The relationship between Trump and Bolton deteriorated after the president turned against the advisor’s positions on Iran and North Korea. On Sept. 10, Trump posted on Twitter that his services were “no longer needed.”
The president said at the time that he had “disagreed strongly” with many of Bolton’s suggestions, as did others in his administration.
Why does Bolton’s book matter?
Bolton’s unpublished book, which has the “Hamilton”-inspired title “The Room Where it Happened,” directly links Trump to the freeze on Ukraine aid. This directly contradicts the argument of Trump’s impeachment defense that the two instances were unrelated. Not only have the claims strengthened Democrats’ push for witnesses at the impeachment trial, but now Republicans are seeming to join the call.
Republican Sen. Mitt Romney referenced the book Monday, telling multiple news outlets “it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans” will join those who “think we should hear from John Bolton.”
Republican Sen. Susan Collins posted a statement to Twitter Monday saying reports on the book have strengthened the case for witnesses and “prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues.”
Later that night, Republican Sen. James Lankford posted a video on Facebook saying the White House should send a copy of the book manuscript to senators.
The issue took on a new twist Tuesday, with The Herald-Tribune reporting that Trump’s former Chief of Staff John Kelly came out in support of Bolton’s account.
“If John Bolton says that in the book, I believe John Bolton,” Kelly said, according to the publication.
How Trump has responded
Trump has repeatedly denied Bolton’s claims, and railed against his former advisor in a series of tweets Wednesday morning saying that he “begged” Trump for the job.
“If I listened to him, we would be in World War Six by now,” Trump said, later calling Bolton’s book “nasty” and “untrue.”
Trump impeachment lawyer Alan Dershowitz told senators at the impeachment trial Monday that none of Bolton’s claims would amount to an impeachable offense.
“Nothing in the Bolton revelations - even if true - would rise to the level of an abuse of power or an impeachable offense,” he said.
Whether Bolton has swayed enough senators to call for witnesses remains to be seen. Trump’s defense team rested its case Tuesday, and the trial will move next into a question-and-answer phase. The vote on potential witnesses will come only after the next phase is complete.
This story was originally published January 29, 2020 at 8:52 AM with the headline "Here’s how John Bolton’s upcoming book could seriously complicate Trump’s impeachment."