Bolton willing to defy White House and testify if court clears the way, according to people familiar

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post



Former national security adviser John Bolton is willing to defy the White House and testify in the House impeachment inquiry about his alarm at the Ukraine pressure campaign if a federal court clears the way, according to people familiar with his views.

Bolton could be a powerful witness for Democrats: Top State Department and national security officials have already testified that he was deeply concerned about efforts by Trump and his allies to push Ukraine to open investigations into the president’s political rivals while the Trump administration held up military aid to that country.

The former national security adviser, who abruptly left his post in September, is expected to confirm their statements and describe his conversations with Trump, according to the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry. However, Bolton, a longtime GOP foreign policy adviser, does not want to comply with the Democratic inquiry without a court ruling on the ongoing constitutional dispute between the Trump administration and Congress, the people said.

It remains unclear how quickly that could happen — and whether it would be in time for Bolton to be called as a witness in the public House impeachment hearings, which are scheduled to begin next week. On Wednesday, House Democrats said they are awaiting a key test case involving former White House counsel Donald McGahn, in which a district-court decision could come by the end of this month. An attorney for Bolton declined to comment.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/bolton-willing-to-defy-white-house-and-testify-if-court-clears-the-way-according-to-people-familiar-with-his-views/2019/11/07/dd72d73c-00aa-11ea-9518-1e76abc088b6_story.html

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Full headline: Bolton willing to defy White House and testify if court clears the way, according to people familiar with his views

[Raster]

1. One word: cowardly asshole.

Fine. Two words.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. If Bolton is too coy, he'll miss his chance at true history. . . . nt

[BumRushDaShow]

5. My thoughts exactly.

Cohen waited too late to blink.

[C_U_L8R]

3. Bolton's patriotism only goes so far.

Seems he wants to be fawned over too.

[Brainfodder]

4. Guessing he wasn't getting enough of it from blob & crue?

Jerks all addicted to ass-kissing?

So pathetic.

[Mike 03]

7. Call me naive

I do believe Bolton has a score to settle and recognizes that it's meaningless to do it ten months from now in a book. From a selfish point of view, he might see his testimony as a way to clear a path for a different republican nominee in 2020. I know little about his views of Pence, however. EDIT: Maybe he's thinking of Romney.

[LiberalLovinLug]

8. Be wary of trusting the enemy of my enemy

He's obviously in it for his own reasons. Trump is not interventionist enough. He wants another neo-con in there, to attack Iran.


I'm hoping that Trump is exposed as a criminal, and that when the GOP votes to find him innocent, it will be their death. At least will be huge defeat into the minority.

But if Trump is impeached and enough Republicans see the writing on the walls, Mitch could flip on a dime and order his removal. Then I can see Bolton and others already thinking ahead to running another neo-con (maybe himself!), who will go on to distance themselves from Trump. Say they are completely different. Or that they agreed with his policies but not his behaviour, and they will be much more civilized and inclusive.

And all the Never Trumper pundits like Rick Wilson and David Frum, Ana Navarro, all pump the new Great White Hope as way better than any Democratic candidate. And all those Republicans that would have stayed home if Trump were on the ballot, or "worse", voted D, will now come out in droves to support a good old regular conservative family guy Republican Trump will make anyone in his wake look like the most decent person ever. And they'll vote R even if just to erase their unrepentant guilt for voting in such a fool last time.

That's why its important to not let the spectacle that is Trump dominate as the sole reason to vote Democratic. And highlight what the Republican party is doing to the environment, to trade with China, to the tax code, to our allies, etc.

[LanternWaste]

9. I'm surprised by this. I'd have guessed Bolton would dig his heel in and refuse.

His cooperation makes me think (off the top of my head) two possibilities...

1. Bolton is pissed at Trump and this is as good a way as any to push Idiot trump's buttons. Which is odd, as I'd thought/guessed/presumed he and Idiot trump were thick as thieves.

2. Bolton is smart enough to see the end-game and all its consequences. Which isn't too odd, as there's no honor among thieves.

[StevieM]

10. I don't trust him.

I worry that he understands the era that we are living in. I worry that he will go up there and provide damning facts, like the Mueller report did. But then he will deliver a dramatic moment where he passionately proclaims "there was no quid pro quo." The GOP will then start saying that the Democrats case had fallen apart on them.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. Thing is, he was already quoted as calling it

a "drug deal" and also calling Ghouliani a "hand grenade". I do agree that he has those neocon "principles" and will never undermine them. But this administration is apparently not into the high-minded ideals of "bringing democracy to the world (come hell or high water) " by adopting a PNAC-style approach, and would instead prefer to enrich themselves by doing whatever they need to do to achieve that enrichment, even if it compromises general U.S. policy, and that seems to concern him!

The whole North Korea fiasco is a case in point, where it's obvious Bolton didn't like the photo-op-style policy of this administration.

[McCamy Taylor]

12. Do it! Do it! Do it!

[Jake Stern]

13. Some may call is craven or cowardly

but personally I'd prefer that he has the court's blessing to testify first. It'll help keep the goons at Bill Barr's DOJ from coming after him and will give the House ammo it can use in a potential SCOTUS fight.

The last thing we need is to have Bolton testify only for SCOTUS rule that he shouldn't have and throw any evidence he provides into the proverbial trash bin. At least with lower court rulings expressly permitting the testimony as backup, the House might be able to swing Roberts into siding with them making it 5-4 against Trump.