McSally quiet on whether she wants Bolton to testify

Sen. Martha McSally has yet to say whether she wants to hear from additional witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

When asked last week, McSally, RAriz., berated a CNN reporter as a “liberal hack” and sidestepped answering the question, saying only that she wants to see a “fair” trial.

McSally is facing new pressure to answer the question after new revelations in a forthcoming book from Trump’s former national security adviser, John Bolton,

who has direct knowledge about Trump’s efforts with Ukraine.

Bolton wrote that Trump wanted to continue to freeze security assistance to Ukraine until officials there launched investigations into 2020 Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son.

The manuscript of Bolton’s book was submitted to the White House for review and leaked to The New York Times.

In their opening arguments on Saturday, Trump’s defense team said Democrats omitted exculpatory evidence. They said Democrats were trying to reverse the 2016 presidential election and interfere with the 2020 election.

The team began its second day of arguments on Monday as Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah said Bolton’s book manuscript strengthens the case for hearing from more witnesses. Four Republican senators would have to join with 47 Democrats to allow additional witnesses to testify.

Through a spokeswoman, McSally declined to say whether she wants to hear from Bolton.

In setting the rules for the trial last week, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz., voted with Democrats to access additional witnesses and testimony, including from Bolton.

McSally voted against those efforts.

She has said the rules don’t “eliminate the possibility of witnesses or documents in the future, if needed.”

Bolton, a luminary in Republican foreign policy circles for decades, has supported McSally’s political career.

McSally detailed her admiration for Bolton in an April 2018 column published by the Washington Times, after Trump named Bolton his new national security adviser.

“John Bolton is also known for being frank and direct,” McSally wrote. “I can relate to and appreciate these qualities. I would hope every adviser to the president on national security issues has these attributes.”