Maybe no need to hear Bolton, Boozman notes

Senator says president’s team makes compelling arguments

WASHINGTON — Arguments by the president’s attorneys Monday were compelling enough that witnesses in the impeachment trial may be unnecessary, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., said during a break in the proceedings.

He left open the possibility, nonetheless, that former national security adviser John Bolton would be called to testify.

In addition to establishing that Hunter Biden’s Ukrainian business dealings were suspect, the lawyers, Boozman said, showed that President Donald Trump’s calls for an investigation were justified.

“The whole crux of the impeachment team [case] is that he did that inappropriately,” Boozman said in an interview. “I think that they proved today that the president legitimately asked for [Hunter Biden] to be investigated.”

Trump’s lawyers Monday accused Biden and his business partner of receiving more than $1 million per year from Burisma, a natural gas company run by a Ukrainian oligarch they portrayed as corrupt. At the time, Biden’s father, then-Vice President Joe Biden, was the point person for then-President Barack Obama’s Ukraine policies.

Hunter Biden, Trump’s attorneys said, had no experience in the natural gas industry, had never been employed in Ukraine and, to the best of their knowledge, spoke no Ukrainian.

He joined the Burisma board in 2014, only leaving in April, the same month that his father formally launched his presidential campaign, they noted.

House Democrats have denied that Hunter Biden is a legitimate target for investigation.

Trump’s attacks, they maintain, are smears aimed at undercutting a key political rival; the elder Biden is a frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Questioning Hunter Biden’s abilities Monday, Trump’s attorneys highlighted his work history since leaving Burisma.

In a sworn affidavit, signed in November, Biden had claimed to be unemployed, they noted.

They appeared to be referring to a Nov. 27 affidavit filed in connection with an Arkansas paternity suit. In addition to claiming he was unemployed, Biden also had stated that he’d had no monthly income since May.

Given the facts, Trump’s concerns were understandable, Boozman said.

“I think the president was frustrated and asked [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelenskiy to look into the matter and I think that he’s well within his right to do that,” Boozman added.

“I think the average Arkansan, after hearing the testimony today, is wondering why somebody’s not in jail,” Boozman said. “They know, that if they got in a situation like that, that they would wind up being punished for inappropriate behavior.”

Boozman said he doesn’t know if witnesses will be called later in the trial. Monday’s testimony “might affect that,” he added.

“If the president, in fact, had the right, based on the facts … [to ask] for the investigation, I don’t think that Bolton’s testimony really matters. That’s not to say that we might not call him,” Boozman said.

Before that is determined, “we need to hear the rest of the defense presentation and then we’ve got many, many hours of [questions],” he added.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was not available for an interview Monday. But in a written statement, he questioned the need to call witnesses.

“If the Democratic case is as strong as they say it is, it shouldn’t depend on the Senate seeking last-minute testimony that the House didn’t even pursue from John Bolton. We’re past the point of calling additional witnesses — but if the Democrats do call more witnesses, then Hunter Biden needs to be at the top of the list,” he said.

In an interview Monday in Springdale before a Rotary Club speech, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson expressed concern about the way Bolton’s information had become public. It was first published Sunday in The New York Times.

“My first point would be that it’s a sad day when everything we know about this [Bolton’s statement] is what is leaked,” Hutchinson said. “There’s more that we don’t know than what we do know.”

Like Cotton, he was critical of the way House Democrats had handled the process.

“At this point, the Senate will have to decide what to do but this is an example of the House not completing its case before sending it to the Senate,” he said. “[T]he Senate is not an investigative body in impeachment. It is a trial body. Investigating further is not their traditional role.”

Hutchinson, who served as a House manager during the impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton, said the Senate will have to assess the evidence, determine whether additional witnesses are needed, and then decide how to proceed.

“Past impeachment sets a very high bar for removal from office,” he said.