U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton arrives to address reporters as the Trump administration announces economic sanctions against Venezuela and the Venezuelan state owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela (PdVSA) during a press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., January 28, 2019. REUTERS/Jim Young
Donald Trump’s impeachment nightmare grew worse on Wednesday as former national security adviser John Bolton said he will testify in the impeachment investigation if he’s served with a subpoena.
Bolton’s lawyer said he isn’t willing to testify voluntarily, but he all but confirmed that his client would happily cooperate if the Democrats issued a subpoena.
The witnesses that have come forward up to this point – many of them current or former Trump administration officials – have been severely damaging to the president’s impeachment defense.
The most recent testimony delivered by Purple Heart recipient Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman revealed a series of damming facts related to Trump’s Ukraine scheme – from the blatant quid pro quo to the effort to hide and scrub the call transcript.
In other words, House investigators don’t need John Bolton’s testimony to prove that Trump committed impeachable offenses. That has been established for weeks, and it continues to be confirmed by a revolving door of credible witnesses.
But Bolton’s potential testimony could be the most explosive yet because of his proximity to the Ukraine scandal as it was happening in real-time.
As The Washington Post reported this week, “In a pair of volatile meetings, senior White House officials, including then-national security adviser John Bolton, were confronted with the outlines of a scheme they had previously only suspected: President Trump was seeking to use the power of his office to pressure Ukraine to deliver damaging information on former vice president Joe Biden and his son.”
Once Bolton knew about the scheme, he was alarmed. He referred to it as a “drug deal” and asked former Trump adviser Fiona Hill to “notify the chief lawyer for the National Security Council about a rogue effort by Mr. Sondland, Mr. Giuliani and Mick Mulvaney.”
Republicans are already struggling to defend this flailing president. Testimony from John Bolton – a fixture of Republican politics for decades – could completely obliterate whatever is left of their defense.
Follow Sean Colarossi on Facebook and Twitter
Trump got House Republicans to not use reconciliation to cut Social Security. The problem is…
President-elect Trump and Speaker Mike Johnson have agreed to a deal that would fund the…
Donald Trump demanded that the debt limit be raised as part of the government funding…
Donald Trump and JD Vance are blaming President Biden for the havoc caused by Elon…
The first little bit of pressure involving passing a bill to keep the government open…
X boss Elon Musk is throwing a tantrum on his social media platform as House…
This website uses cookies.
