Donald Trump Rages At John Bolton, Claims Former Security Adviser Is Lying To Sell Books
A leaked manuscript of an upcoming book from former National Security Adviser John Bolton accuses Donald Trump of directly tying Ukraine’s willingness to investigate Joe Biden with the delivery of U.S. military aid. If true, the explosive claim could dramatically impact Trump’s impeachment defense. Trump responded to the report, according to The Washington Post, by lashing out at Bolton and accusing him of lying.
In a series of fiery tweets on Sunday, Trump defended himself and his administration, accusing Bolton of trying to get publicity for his book.
“I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens. In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book,” he wrote.
“With that being said, the transcripts of my calls with President Zelensky are all the proof that is needed, in addition to the fact that President Zelensky & the Foreign Minister of Ukraine said there was no pressure and no problems,” he added.
He added that he had a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the United Nations and released the aid that he is accused of withholding. According to Trump, he released the aid ahead of schedule and without requiring the country first investigate Biden and his son Hunter Biden.
“I also allowed Ukraine to purchase Javelin anti-tank missiles,” he added.
He concluded by saying that the House Democrats never asked Bolton to testify during their impeachment proceedings, and that it is up to them to allow him to act as a witness. Currently, Senate Democrats are battling to have Bolton testify in the Senate impeachment trial.
Trump then re-tweeted numerous messages from other Twitter users accusing Bolton of making things up to “score” a book deal. Another tweet accused the New York Times, which originally broke the story, of manufacturing the claim to harm Trump’s impeachment argument. Other retweeted messages claim that the media worked with Bolton to “overturn” the 2016 election.
This “Bolton Bombshell” from The NY Times (hardly a reliable source on @POTUS @realDonaldTrump reporting) seems to have dropped at an orchestrated opportunity. Totally manufactured. #NextRevFNC pic.twitter.com/EJmPVHI23V
— Joe Gooding ??? (@joegooding) January 27, 2020
He concluded with an all-caps tweet telling people to read the Ukraine conversation transcripts.
Trump’s legal team has worked to prevent witnesses from appearing in the impeachment trial while at the same time arguing that the trial lacks reliable witnesses. One MSNBC host says that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell knew that Bolton’s testimony could be damaging and has worked to suppress it.
Bolton has said in the past that he is willing to testify in the trial if subpoenaed. It is expected that the Senate will end the trial without allowing witnesses and will acquit the president along party lines.
