Apparently Trump’s former national security advisor knows more about the Ukraine affair than the U.S. president would like. The Senate does not have any choice but to summon him in the impeachment trial.
John Bolton is an enigma. What made him work as Donald Trump’s national security advisor, the influence he had on the U.S. president in this position, even the exact reasons for his retirement in the fall: all of this is not entirely clear, all of this would not be that important – if it weren’t for the Ukraine affair, which Bolton witnessed firsthand. Bolton has kept quiet about it for a long time, but now he is pushing to go public.
The New York Times has reported about a book yet to be published, in which Bolton confirms that Trump did indeed make investigations into Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden a condition for military assistance to Ukraine. Because of this, Bolton could become the most important figure in the ongoing impeachment trial against President Trump. At least, 71-year-old Bolton is now forcing the Republicans to show their true colors.
Trump’s defenders have rejected the impeachment charges and want to undermine witness credibility. A video clip from 2018, in which Trump demands the dismissal of the former U.S. ambassador in Kiev, raises new questions.
What Bolton writes in his book does not come as a surprise. The current evidence in the impeachment trial already indicates that Trump pressured a foreign state by withholding military assistance for his own advantage But among the president’s innermost circle. Bolton, a man who sat beside Trump in the Oval Office every day during the Ukraine affair, is the first one to speak out about it.
Bolton Is Part of the Conservative Establishment
Under normal circumstances, what this man has to say should force the Senate Republicans to subpoena him and hear his testimony at trial. This is especially so because Bolton has already made it clear that he is ready to testify. However, the circumstances are not normal anymore. Even before the impeachment trial, the Republican Party showed that it sees itself primarily as the executing arm of a relentless president. Only this can explain its refusal to conduct a trial that deserves to be called a trial.
Yet Bolton’s case poses a problem for the Republicans. It will not be easy for Republican senators to dismiss a lawyer known for his meticulous note-taking as a gossip or one of the many shady characters that populate Trump’s world. Characters like businessman Lev Parnas, who is under investigation by the prosecution and who recently has repeatedly submitted incriminating evidence about Trump’s conduct toward Ukraine. For decades, Bolton has been part of the conservative establishment that most senators belong to. He is one of them.
When the senators decide this week whether or not to subpoena Bolton as a witness, they will do it with the knowledge that the former national security advisor will talk soon anyway: in his book, which is going to be published in mid-March, and probably also in media appearances involving the publication. Whether his goal is to save his reputation or whether he is thinking about the income from sales is secondary. The Republicans should instead ask themselves: Can they really afford to keep Bolton out of the impeachment trial? If they do so, they are not acting as the independent jury they swore under oath they would be. Rather, they will be acting as accomplices of a president who is doing everything he can to hinder any clarification of the events.
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