Bolton Bombshell Adds Pressure on GOP as White House Pushes Back

An explosive leak from former National Security Advisor John Bolton’s unpublished book that says President Donald Trump wanted to freeze aid to Ukraine until its government investigated his political rival threatens to scramble the politics of the impeachment trial and bring new pressure on Republicans to call witnesses.

Bolton’s account in the draft of his book, as described by the New York Times, fortifies the two central arguments made by Democrats in the trial: that Trump used the power of his office for political gain and that the senators urgently need to hear from witnesses the president blocked from testifying during the House inquiry.

The White House pushed back on the disclosure Monday as the president’s lawyers are preparing to deliver the meat of Trump’s defense when the trial reconvenes on at 1 p.m. In an opening statement on Saturday, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone argued that House impeachment managers had failed to prove their case, in part, because they had no firsthand evidence in charging Trump with abuse of power. He said the real aim of Democrats was to overturn the 2016 election and interfere in November’s ballot.

Bolton, who left the administration in September in disputes with Trump over policy, has that direct knowledge. He’s one of four current or former administration officials Democrats want to call as witnesses and has said he would testify if subpoenaed. His lawyer said previously that he has information that hasn’t been part of the public record.

‘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,” the seven House impeachment managers, led by Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff, said in a joint statement Sunday night.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham dismissed Bolton’s leaked account as “just not true” and said Trump “did nothing wrong” in an interview with Fox News on Monday. “The timing of all of this is very, very suspect,” she said.