Posted on January 27, 2020 by Tribune News Service
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WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans’ loyalty to President Donald Trump could face its starkest test yet this week after John Bolton, the former national security adviser, reportedly wrote that Trump told Bolton he had blocked U.S. military aid to Ukraine in an effort to get Ukraine to investigate a Democratic rival.
The revelations, contained in a book draft, sent tremors through Capitol Hill on Monday morning hours before Trump’s lawyers were set to resume their defense of the president, which began Saturday morning.
Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters that “it’s increasingly likely” that there will be enough votes to subpoena Bolton as a witness, as Democrats have demanded.
“The reports about John Bolton’s book strengthens the case for witnesses and have prompted a number of conversations among my colleagues,” said Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, another key moderate.
Even Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a firm Trump ally who has opposed having any witnesses, suggested he would be open to some kind of agreement to bring in witnesses.
“If there is a desire and decision by the Senate to call Democratic witnesses, then at a minimum the Senate should allow President @realDonaldTrump to call all relevant witnesses he has requested,” Graham tweeted.
Trump’s lawyers have staked their defense in part on denying any link between the events at the heart of the impeachment case, which alleges that Trump abused his power by pressuring a foreign government to help his reelection campaign — and then obstructed Congress by ordering aides not to testify or provide documents.
Trump’s lawyers also have repeatedly declared that no witness had firsthand knowledge of a direct link between the White House order to withhold $391 million in congressionally authorized security aid and Trump’s push for Ukraine to announce an investigation of Joe Biden, who is running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and his son Hunter.
The president denied Bolton’s claims in a series of angry tweets that began after midnight and picked up again in the early morning.
“I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens,” he wrote. “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.”
It’s unclear whether Bolton’s description of his conversation with the president will cause Trump’s lawyers to alter their defense arguments. After giving an abbreviated defense on Saturday, they were expected to shift the focus Monday toward Biden and his son Hunter, who served on the board of a Ukrainian gas company.
Trump and his lawyers have tried to portray the Bidens as corrupt in order to justify Trump’s request for Ukraine to investigate them. The Bidens have denied any wrongdoing.
After defense arguments are finished, senators will get 16 hours to submit written questions followed by an opportunity to debate whether witnesses should be called. That debate could occur as soon as Thursday.
Bolton has offered to testify to the Senate if he is subpoenaed. He had resisted a request from the Democratic-controlled House during the impeachment proceedings there.
It’s still unclear if four Republicans will join Senate Democrats to subpoena Bolton and possibly other witnesses.
Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., have sought to ensure a speedy path to acquittal without any witnesses.
Trump could try to block the testimony from his former national security adviser on the basis of executive privilege, which allows presidents to keep confidential their deliberative conversations with aides. But it’s not clear that Trump has any enforcement provisions if Bolton decides to honor a Senate subpoena.
Democrats say a claim of executive privilege would fail because Bolton has already written his story in his book draft, which was submitted to the White House for classification review on Dec. 30 and is scheduled to be published in March, and because executive privilege is not a shield for presidential wrongdoing.
“Senators should insist that Mr. Bolton be called as a witness, and provide his notes and other relevant documents,” the House impeachment managers said in a joint statement Sunday after the New York Times reported the details from Bolton’s manuscript. “The Senate trial must seek the full truth and Mr. Bolton has vital information to provide.”
Bolton could have additional evidence in his possession as well.
“He is known to be a voracious note taker,” said a Democratic aide working on the impeachment trial, and may have a “contemporaneous account” of his conversations with Trump on Ukraine.
Unlike some who testified during House impeachment hearings, Bolton is a Republican establishment figure with government service dating back to President Reagan’s administration. His hawkish views and sharp elbows in bureaucratic battles made him controversial, but he’s respected by many high-profile Republicans.
Romney called Bolton a “brilliant man” when Trump fired him in September after disputes over the president’s policy in Syria, North Korea and other parts of the world.
McConnell also praised Bolton at the time.
“I always appreciated John’s candor and clear advice,” he said.
— Chris Megerian
Los Angeles Times
