Bolton no-show at impeachment panel

Democrats see absence as obstruction evidence

WASHINGTON — Former national security adviser John Bolton failed to appear for an interview with impeachment investigators Thursday, making it unlikely that he will provide testimony to the House about President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine.

Democrats indicated they have no interest in a drawnout court fight over Bolton’s testimony or that of any others as they move into a more public phase of their impeachment inquiry. They say they will simply use the no-shows as evidence of the president’s obstruction of Congress.

An attorney for Bolton, Charles Cooper, said his client had not received a subpoena. Cooper had said Bolton wouldn’t appear without one.

An aide to Vice President Mike Pence did appear under subpoena Thursday to speak with impeachment investigators and was deposed for more than four hours.

Jennifer Williams, a career foreign service officer detailed to Pence’s office from the State Department, is one of several White House aides who were listening in on a July phone call between Trump and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in which Trump asked the new leader to investigate Democrats, according to an administration official who requested anonymity to discuss the conversation.

That call, in which Trump asked Zelenskiy to investigate political rival Joe Biden and his family and also Ukraine’s role in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, is at the center of the Democrats’ impeachment probe.

Though Trump has said there was no “quid pro quo,” several of the witnesses, including top Ukraine diplomat William Taylor, have testified that it was their understanding that Ukraine would not receive military assistance or a coveted Oval Office visit until it met the president’s demands.

Democrats say the refusal of witnesses like Bolton, Mulvaney and Perry to appear — under Trump’s orders — will add fuel to their case that the president has obstructed justice. They say obstruction is likely to be an article of impeachment against Trump, when and if they are written.

Lawmakers leaving the deposition said that Williams’ testimony had lined up with the accounts of others.

Democrats scheduled 13 witnesses to testify behind closed doors this week.