USA TODAY International Edition
Bolton book adds to call for witnesses
Dems say claims that aid hinged on Biden inquiry contradict defense
As President Donald Trump’s defense team continued to attack the Democrats’ case for impeachment Monday, one question was whether revelations in a forthcoming book by Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton would convince enough Republicans to agree to call witnesses in the trial, a move that could prolong the proceedings into next week or beyond.
Republicans began the second of their allotted three days of arguments Monday in the hopes of ending the historic trial by Friday.
A leaked draft of Bolton’s book, first reported by The New York Times on Sunday, threatened to derail those plans and put Republicans on the defensive. In the book, Bolton says Trump personally told him he hoped to withhold nearly $ 400 million in military aid for Ukraine until the country announced investigations into political rival Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
The House impeachment managers and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D- N. Y., said that Bolton’s reported claims directly contradict elements of Trump’s defense and that a fair trial requires his testimony.
Trump denied Bolton’s account in a tweet Monday and in front of reporters at the White House.
Bolton was not a part of the House impeachment inquiry. Democrats from the House Intelligence and Judiciary committees considered subpoenaing him but decided against it. Bolton followed a presidential directive not to testify voluntarily.
At least two GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, said they may be open to calling witnesses in the trial so they can hear from Bolton.
At least two more Republicans would need to agree to reach the 51 votes necessary to include testimony from witnesses in the trial.
President Donald Trump’s legal team denied new claims by former national security advisor John Bolton on Monday as some senators expressed possible interest in hearing him testify.
In a leaked draft of his book, Bolton says Trump told him that he hoped to continue to withhold nearly $ 400 million in military aid for Ukraine until the country announced investigations into political rival Joe Biden and his son, Hunter.
“There was no linkage between investigations and security assistance or meeting on the July 25 call, the Ukrainians said there was no quid- proquo,” Mike Purpura, a deputy counsel to the president who is defending him in the trial, argued before the Senate. He did not mention Bolton, nor did any of his counterparts during the first several hours of the presentation.
“The house managers’ record reflects that anyone who spoke with the president said that the President made clear that there was no linkage” with aid and investigations, Purpura argued.
At least two GOP senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, said Monday they might be open to calling witnesses in the trial so they can hear from Bolton.
“I think it’s increasingly likely that other Republicans will join those of us who think we should hear from John Bolton,” Romney told MSNBC.
A potential swing vote, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R- Alaska., also said she was “curious about what Ambassador Bolton has to say.”
Sen. Angus King of Maine, an Independent who caucuses with the Democrats, said he believed several more Republicans would join Collins and Romney.
But Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the chamber’s newest member who took the seat in January despite concerns among some Republicans that she’s not conservative enough, attacked Romney for suggesting additional witnesses should be called.
In a tweet, Loeffler accused Romney of working to “appease the left by calling witnesses who will slander the @ realdonaldtrump.”
Sen. John Barrasso, R- Wyo., said the Bolton revelations were reminiscent of the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
“It happened with Kavanaugh with so- called bombshells,” said Barrasso, noting it was important to first “hear the case, let’s hear the questions, then we’ll make a decision.”
Meanwhile, on Monday, Ken Starr, a private lawyer representing Trump in the Senate trial, urged senators to step back from an “age of impeachment” with three presidential inquiries in 50 years by rejecting the partisan investigation.
Starr, who investigated former President Bill Clinton, which led to his impeachment but not his removal from office, said impeachment is traditionally built upon the accusations of crimes.
House Democrats have argued that bribery and extortion are implied in the articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress in connection with the Ukraine aid, but Starr argued that articles against Trump don’t allege specific crimes.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she was “curious about what Ambassador Bolton has to say.”