John Bolton Testify Book Trump Ukraine Impeachment

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Democrats call on John Bolton to testify after book bombshell

#BoltonMustTestify and #BoltonBombshell are trending on Twitter.

 

Andrew Wyrich

Tech

Posted on Jan 27, 2020   Updated on May 19, 2021, 4:54 pm CDT

Democrats and internet users are pushing for former national security adviser John Bolton to testify in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial in the wake of reports about a leaked manuscript of his new book.

In the upcoming memoir, Bolton writes that the president said he wanted to withhold military aid to Ukraine until the country investigated former Vice President Joe Biden and his son.

The New York Times on Sunday first reported that an unpublished manuscript of Bolton’s forthcoming memoir says Trump told his then-national security adviser in August that he wanted to withhold the military aide until Ukraine looked into the former vice president and his son Hunter Biden.

The question of whether Trump withheld the aide to try and get an investigation into his political rival is at the center of the Democratic case for impeachment. The news of Bolton’s claims in his upcoming book quickly caused people online to push for his testimony in the trial—a suggestion Republicans have not been keen on doing. Sources told Axios that they will resist witnesses being involved in the trial because “there is a sense in the Senate that if one witness is allowed, the floodgates are open.”

Last week, NBC News reported that the White House could use executive privilege to block Bolton from testifying.

This morning, #BoltonMustTestify and #BoltonBombshell began trending on Twitter.

“@GOP You are on trial now. If you decide that the country should not hear Bolton’s testimony, you become part of the coverup. #boltonmusttestify,” one Twitter user wrote on Sunday night.

Democratic lawmakers also amped up their calls for Bolton to testify, including Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), among others.

The president has also weighed in on the news, denying the claims that are reportedly in Bolton’s book.

“I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book. With that being said, the…,” the president wrote in a series of tweets on Sunday night. “…transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems. Additionally, I met with President Zelensky at the United Nations……(Democrats said I never met) and released the military aid to Ukraine without any conditions or investigations – and far ahead of schedule. I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles. My Administration has done far more than the previous Administration.”

Senate Republicans canceled a press conference this morning in the wake of the news.

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*First Published: Jan 27, 2020, 9:56 am CST