Reuters
FILE PHOTO: White House former National Security Advisor Bolton delivers remarks on North Korea at a think tank in Washington
- John Bolton confirms in his new book that Trump ordered a continued freeze on a military aid package to Ukraine in August of 2019 until they announced investigations into the Bidens, The New York Times reported Sunday.
- Trump is currently facing trial for two articles of impeachment that allege abuse of his office and obstructing Congress over his administration withholding aid to Ukraine.
- Bolton is a highly sought-after witness for the Democrats in the impeachment trial.
- While Bolton has not yet provided official testimony, members on the National Security Council have testified that Bolton knew and was concerned by plans to trade investigations for a White House meeting.
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Former national security adviser John Bolton confirms in his new book that Trump ordered a continued freeze on a military aid package to Ukraine in August of 2019 until investigations into the Bidens were announced, The New York Times reported Sunday.
According to an unpublished manuscript of Bolton's book obtained by the times, Trump asked the Office of Budget and Management to continue a nearly month-long hold on a $391 million military aid package to Ukraine until the Ukrainian government announced investigations of former Vice President Joe Biden, whose son Hunter served on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma holdings from 2014 to 2019.
Trump is currently on trial in the Senate on two articles of impeachment. He's been accused of abusing of his office and obstructing Congress during its investigation into a whistleblower's complaint that his administration withheld aid to Ukraine in exchange for an announcment of politically-motivated investigations.
Based on documents, text message logs, and the sworn testimony of dozens of officials, the impeachment articles charge that Trump and his team leveraged the aid, in addition to the promise of a White House meeting, to pressure Ukraine's president to announce investigations into the Bidens and a discredited conspiracy theory that Ukraine interfered in the 2016 election.
Bolton's book further directly tie the president to the decision to withhold the aid. It also, as the Times noted, pokes a hole in the White House's defense that the administration's actions were completely unrelated to Trump and Giuliani's efforts to compel the Ukrainians to investigate baseless allegations into the Bidens.
Bolton and acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney are highly sought-after witness for the Democrats in the impeachment trial into President Trump.
Mulvaney still holds his current position, while Bolton left the White House in September of 2019 over various disagreements with Trump. The Times reported that Bolton's manuscript also implicates Mulvaney as being on a call with Trump and Giuliani where they discussed their plans to oust the former US ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch.
While Bolton has been harshly criticized by Democrats for writing and promoting his forthcoming book while not voluntarily coming to testify before Congress, he said in early January that he would comply with a Senate subpoena.
The Times reported that Bolton has given the draft of his book to some friends, and to the White House as a part of a standard review process for former officials.
Both Trump and Senate Republicans have expressed concern about the damaging information Bolton could reveal in his testimony, with The Times reporting that the White House review process could even be used to strike passages unflattering to Trump.
On January 21, the Washington Post reported that some Republicans are drawing up contingency plans to have Bolton testify before closed-doors if he is subpoenaed.
And at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump said that Bolton testifying could be a "national security problem."
"He knows some of my thoughts," Trump said on January 23. "He knows what I think about leaders. What happens if he reveals how I feel about another leader and it's not positive ... it would make the job a lot harder."
The Senate requires a 51-vote majority to approve subpoenas for witnesses to testify. Because the Senate is currently made up of 53 Republicans, 45 Democrats, and two independents who caucus with Democrats, four Republican votes would be needed.
On Saturday, members of Trump's legal team presented opening arguments for his defense in the ongoing Senate impeachment trial after three days of arguments from the House impeachment managers who are serving as prosecutors.
After Trump's defense finishes up their presentations on Tuesday, Senators will be given a 16-hour period to submit written questions to both sides. After the question period, they will take a vote on whether to subpoena additional documents and witness testimony.
On Sunday night, the seven House managers released a statement saying, "There can be no doubt now that Mr. Bolton directly contradicts the heart of the President's defense and therefore must be called as a witness at the impeachment trial of President Trump."
While Bolton has not yet provided official testimony, other colleagues on the National Security Council have testified that Bolton knew and was concerned by plans to trade investigations for a White House meeting.
In her closed-door deposition before Congress, former National Security Council official Fiona Hill recalled a dramatic meeting about the Trump's administration's quid pro quo with Ukraine that ended with Bolton storming out of the room.
In her testimony, Hill said that Bolton was highly alarmed by a July meeting with Ukrainians in which Mulvaney and US ambassador to Ukraine Gordon Sondland announced they would only grant the Ukrainians a White House meeting if 'investigations in the energy sector start,' which she interpreted to mean investigations into Burisma.
Afterward, Hill said that "Ambassador Bolton immediately stiffened and ended the meeting ... I mean, he looked at the clock as if he had, you know, suddenly another meeting and his time was up, but it was obvious he ended the meeting."
Hill said she saw, "Ambassador Sondland, in front of the Ukrainians, as I came in, was talking about how he had an agreement with Chief of Staff Mulvaney for a meeting with the Ukrainians if they were going to go forward with investigations" with her director for Ukraine, Army foreign area officer Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, "looking completely alarmed."
Hill said she tried to intercept Sondland and make clear to him there should be no discussion of investigations with Ukranian officials, telling him any discussion of conditions for a meeting would have to go through the proper channels.
Hill testified that when she recounted the conversation with Sondland to Bolton, he told her to report it to NSC counsel John Eisenberg immediately. "He told me, and this is a direct quote from Ambassador Bolton: You go and tell Eisenberg that I am not part of whatever drug deal Sondland and Mulvaney are cooking up on this, and you go and tell him what you've heard and what I've said," she testified.
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John Bolton has the evidence.
It's up to four Senate Republicans to ensure that John Bolton, Mick Mulvaney, and the others with direct knowledge of President Trump's actions testify in the Senate trial.https://t.co/JbazBaYdRU
- Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 26, 2020